Winslow Homer

Winslow Homer was an American painter who was a roll model to artists in the late 19th century.

Homer was born on February 24, 1836 in Boston, Massachusetts. Homer taught himself how to paint. People noticed his talent at an early age. Homer’s first paintings as an adult were done in 1862, when he was 26 years old. Homer painted for magazines many times. Most of his paintings and magazine illustrations were of country life summer resort scenes.

Homer went to France in late 1866. During that time,he did not study, but painted things that had little effect on his work. In the beginning of 1873 Homer began using watercolor. At this time, he painted almost everything with water color.

Homer moved to England is 1881 near a fishing village on the North Sea. During that time he mostly worked with watercolors. He liked to paint the sea and fisher folk. Since he lived near the sea, this is what he mostly saw. He found a quick interest in this enviornment so he often painted these things. In these paintings there were emotions that he was trying to express through art.
In the summer of 1883 Homer moved to Prout’s Neck, a point of land on the Maine coast. This was described as a very lonely area. His art was completely changed. His pictures were no longer fufilled with happiness, but were more empty.

He loved to paint the outdoor with forests, mountains and the lives of outdoor men. At this time, his pictures had reached full strength, with plenty of detail. His pictures weren’t empty anymore. Winslow put expression in his paintings.

On September 29th, 1910, one of America’s greatest painters that ever lived, died. Winslow Homer passed away at the age of 74. However, even though he is dead, his art won’t be forgotten. We still remember his great art work today.

Click on Winslow Homer to see examples of Homer's paintings.