Winslow Homer - Boys in a Dory [1873]

Winslow Homer - Boys in a Dory [1873], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

This charming sheet dates from the first phase of Homer's professional work in watercolor. Having visited a landmark exhibition sponsored by the American Society of Painters in Water Colours in New York, Homer spent the summer of 1873 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the picturesque fishing port on Cape Ann, north of Boston. There, he undertook a series of small-scale watercolours depicting boys and girls rowing dories, sitting on the wharves, involved in modest tasks, or playing on the beach. 

Homer's early watercolours are simple and direct, reflecting the innocent, idyllic nature of his subjects. They also reveal his cautious approach to the new medium, in that they feature washes of colour carefully applied within pale pencil outlines and much opaque pigment. Nonetheless, Boys in a Dory, in particular, demonstrates Homer's ability to capture the scintillating effects of dazzling sunlight, rippling water, and luminous atmosphere in boat-filled Gloucester Harbour. Such effects predict the brilliance of his later travel watercolours, grand sheets that validate his prediction: "You will see, in the future I will live by my watercolours."

[Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - Watercolour washes and gouache over graphite underdrawing on medium rough textured white wove paper, 24.8 x 35.2 cm]