Ocean Seen from a Cliff, Prout's Neck, Maine
Medium
seascapes
Classification
seascapes
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Savage Homer, Jr.
Accession Number
1912-12-186
About this artwork
View of the ocean seen from cliff with sky at horizon rendered as slightly darker blue-gray above the expanse of light grey-green water.
Art Historical Context
Winslow Homer, a towering figure in American Realism (1836–1910), painted *Ocean Seen from a Cliff Prout's Neck,* around 1894, capturing the sublime drama of his coastal home in Maine. By this late stage in his career, Homer had retreated to Prout's Neck, where he devoted himself to seascapes that celebrated nature's untamed force. This work exemplifies his shift toward monumental marine subjects, rendered with masterful observation of light and atmosphere. From a rugged cliff edge, the painting gazes across a vast expanse of light grey-green water toward a horizon where the sky darkens to a ...