Young Man Leaning Against Sailboat Rigging
Classification
figures
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Savage Homer, Jr.
Accession Number
1912-12-116
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
Winslow Homer, a towering figure in American Realism (1836–1910), captures the essence of 19th-century coastal life in *Young Man Leaning Against Sailboat Rigging* (ca. 1875). During this period, Homer was deeply immersed in New England's maritime world, sketching fishermen and sailors in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and later Maine. This work, classified as a figure study, likely depicts a youthful worker pausing amid the ship's rigging, evoking the rugged independence of American seafaring culture amid the post-Civil War era. Homer's mastery lies in his unflinching realism—bold compositions, ...