Two Women and a Child at a Rail, Overlooking Beach at Tynemouth
Classification
figures
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Savage Homer, Jr.
Accession Number
1912-12-17
About this artwork
Two women and a child lean over railing, looking out to sea, as men in raincoats and caps below the boardwalk also look out to sea. A Life Brigade house is directly in front of them, in the middleground; rough sea traversed by several shore bound ships, in the background.
Art Historical Context
In 1881, American artist Winslow Homer captured the dramatic tension between humanity and the sea in *Two Women and Child at a Rail,looking Beach at Tyn*. This evocative scene depicts two women and a child peering over a railing toward a turbulent ocean, while men in raincoats below the boardwalk gaze seaward. Dominating the middle ground is a Life Brigade house—a coastal rescue station—framed by shore-bound ships battling rough waves evoking the perilous life of North Sea fishermen. Homer a master of American Realism, created this during his transformative stay in Tynemouth, England (1881–18...