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Lot Essay
In style and subject matter The Breakwater exemplifies Winslow Homer's finest work in watercolor. During the decade of the 1870s just prior to his trip to Cullercoats, England from 1881 to 1882, Homer had concentrated his efforts on genre painting--depictions of children and young women set in bucolic surroundings. In The Breakwater, completed at Prout's Neck, Maine in 1883, Homer returned to this theme, painting two young women as they lean against a stone breakwater.
The two figures in The Breakwater have a dreamy, other-worldly quality. Unlike the fisherwomen battling the elements in so many of the English watercolors, these young women enjoy a moment of leisure. With their basket set aside they rest at ease, allowing themselves a moment of thoughtful contemplation in the bright sun.
When Homer returned to Prout's Neck from England in 1883, he found residents similar to those he had encountered in England--hard working, seafaring people. The artist had been captivated by the residents of Cullercoats as they went about the daily activities that comprised their livelihood--carrying baskets laden with fish, hauling fishing boats up and down the beach, and watching the ever-changing weather patterns of the sea. In works executed at Prout's Neck in 1883 such as The Breakwater, Homer reused subjects initially devised in England, adapting them to new creative and expressive ends. In The Breakwater however, Homer chose to depict a scene with less serious overtones, as two young women enjoy the sparkling sunshine reflecting off the surface of the water that rushes up alongside the edge of the breakwater.
The Breakwater retains delicately toned washes that typify Homer's finest watercolors. The rushing wave that dominates the foreground is filled with variously layered washes in blues and greens. He has used innovative techniques such as sponging and scraping to animate the surface of the sheet. This technique effectively evokes the movement and sparkle of the water and the foam of the cresting waves. Homer has enlivened this subtle coloring with brilliant touches of red and orange--seen in the girls' kerchiefs and blouses. To formulate the figures Homer first carefully drew in pencil and subsequently painted the delicate tones. The entire composition is unified by Homer's careful observation of light and atmosphere.
The Breakwater enjoys a particularly distinguished provenance, having been acquired by Thomas B. Clarke, the pioneer collector of American paintings and Homer's most influential patron. The Breakwater was one of sixteen watercolors owned by Clarke when he sold his entire collection in February 1899. The sale of the Clarke Collection was a landmark event in the history of American art, and of the fifteen most expensive works, eight were by George Inness, who had died five years prior in 1894, and five were by Homer. Among living artists, by far the highest prices achieved were for works by Winslow Homer.
This work will be included in the forthcoming Spanierman Gallery/CUNY/Goodrich/Whitney catalogue raisonné of the works of Winslow Homer.
The two figures in The Breakwater have a dreamy, other-worldly quality. Unlike the fisherwomen battling the elements in so many of the English watercolors, these young women enjoy a moment of leisure. With their basket set aside they rest at ease, allowing themselves a moment of thoughtful contemplation in the bright sun.
When Homer returned to Prout's Neck from England in 1883, he found residents similar to those he had encountered in England--hard working, seafaring people. The artist had been captivated by the residents of Cullercoats as they went about the daily activities that comprised their livelihood--carrying baskets laden with fish, hauling fishing boats up and down the beach, and watching the ever-changing weather patterns of the sea. In works executed at Prout's Neck in 1883 such as The Breakwater, Homer reused subjects initially devised in England, adapting them to new creative and expressive ends. In The Breakwater however, Homer chose to depict a scene with less serious overtones, as two young women enjoy the sparkling sunshine reflecting off the surface of the water that rushes up alongside the edge of the breakwater.
The Breakwater retains delicately toned washes that typify Homer's finest watercolors. The rushing wave that dominates the foreground is filled with variously layered washes in blues and greens. He has used innovative techniques such as sponging and scraping to animate the surface of the sheet. This technique effectively evokes the movement and sparkle of the water and the foam of the cresting waves. Homer has enlivened this subtle coloring with brilliant touches of red and orange--seen in the girls' kerchiefs and blouses. To formulate the figures Homer first carefully drew in pencil and subsequently painted the delicate tones. The entire composition is unified by Homer's careful observation of light and atmosphere.
The Breakwater enjoys a particularly distinguished provenance, having been acquired by Thomas B. Clarke, the pioneer collector of American paintings and Homer's most influential patron. The Breakwater was one of sixteen watercolors owned by Clarke when he sold his entire collection in February 1899. The sale of the Clarke Collection was a landmark event in the history of American art, and of the fifteen most expensive works, eight were by George Inness, who had died five years prior in 1894, and five were by Homer. Among living artists, by far the highest prices achieved were for works by Winslow Homer.
This work will be included in the forthcoming Spanierman Gallery/CUNY/Goodrich/Whitney catalogue raisonné of the works of Winslow Homer.