Thought-about some of the influential American painters of the nineteenth century, Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was a pioneer of maritime artwork, portray industrious fishermen with a eager reverence for the pure world. This month, Of Gentle and Air: Winslow Homer in Watercolour on the Museum of Nice Arts (MFA) in Boston, will carry collectively a wealthy collection of the Boston native’s work, together with childhood drawings and his ultimate, unfinished portray. On the coronary heart of the present are Homer’s watercolours. Fragile and light-sensitive, these hardly ever seen items depict scenes the artist turned well-known for, together with the rugged New England coast and the English seaside.
They appear almost as vibrant because the day Homer painted them
The setting of the MFA Boston is especially apt. The museum was one of many first to assist Homer’s profession, buying Fog Warning (1885) in 1894, a portray of a lone fisherman rowing right into a foreboding sea. Quickly after, the museum started increasing its holdings, including one other ten oil work and almost 50 watercolours by the artist—representing one of many largest collections of Homer’s work. Delicate to gentle, the watercolours in Of Gentle and Air are seldom exhibited. Displaying them in decrease gentle to guard towards fading, the present will provide an opportunity to see dozens of those fragile works collectively for the primary time in almost 50 years.
“Since lots of the watercolours have been within the MFA’s assortment for many years—and in some circumstances over a century—they give the impression of being almost as vibrant because the day Homer painted them,” says the present’s co-curator Christina Michelon.
Among the many highlights will probably be Leaping Trout (1889), a playful watercolour exhibiting two fish mid-air, their spots and colouration rendered in exact element. The work is noteworthy for its skilful execution and quirky imagery, and was the primary Homer watercolour to be acquired by any museum, coming into the MFA’s assortment in 1899.
Leaping Trout (1889), the primary of Winslow Homer’s watercolours to be acquired by any museum
© Museum of Nice Arts, Boston
“Homer started working severely within the medium of watercolour mid-career on the age of 37,” says the co-curator Ethan Lasser. “We hope guests are impressed by his instance of making an attempt one thing new and pushing the boundaries of what’s attainable. Watercolour is a difficult and sometimes unforgiving medium, however Homer stored experimenting and increasing his potential to work with it.”
Of Gentle and Air joins a latest lineup of exhibitions of Homer’s work, together with reveals on the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork, Harvard Artwork Museum and the Cape Ann Museum. Bringing collectively works in quite a lot of mediums, the MFA hopes as an example how Homer used supplies to convey totally different topics. “For instance, within the oils he’s usually tackling grand narratives and existential questions, whereas his watercolours are rather more speedy and observational,” Lasser explains.
The present may even characteristic an homage to Homer’s mom, Henrietta Benson Homer, who was a watercolour artist. One among her research of monarch butterflies will probably be paired with a portray of his depicting swallowtails, which seems like a “citation of his mom’s work not lengthy after she handed away”, Michelon says. Presenting this deep, intimate view of Homer’s work, Michelon provides, is a option to encourage a brand new era of tourists to “decelerate and look intently, relish the small print, and admire the nuances of the work and the environments they depict”.
• Of Gentle and Air: Winslow Homer in Watercolour, Museum of Nice Arts, Boston, 2 November-19 January 2026
