Four Sketches of Sloops
Medium
seascapes
Classification
seascapes
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Savage Homer, Jr.
Accession Number
1912-12-10
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
Winslow Homer, one of America's foremost realist painters (1836–1910), created *Four Sketches of Slo* in 1880, a pivotal moment in his career when he immersed himself in maritime subjects. By this time, Homer had transitioned from Civil War illustrations and rural life scenes to the raw power of the sea, often working from his coastal studio in Maine. These sketches capture sloops—nimble, single-masted sailing vessels central to 19th-century American coastal and fishing—highlighting his lifelong fascination with the ocean's drama and the hardworking lives it sustained. Rendered as quick, evoc...