The first Homer retrospective organized in Europe, Winslow Homer: Poet of the Sea introduced audiences to one of America’s most treasured artists. Co-organized by the Musée d’Art Américain Giverny / Terra Foundation for American Art and the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, the exhibition proved extremely popular; close to 90,000 visitors saw the show.
Though best known for his Civil War and genre scenes, Homer was perhaps at his most magical when capturing water, whether in oil or watercolor. The exhibition was a focused examination of Homer’s distinctive works in which this element dominates. The sixty-seven works of art, which spanned his career and included such masterworks as The Life Line and The Fox Hunt, demonstrated the freshness of Homer’s approach, his inventiveness, and the underlying emotional and psychological complexity of his images. The exhibition also reevaluated Homer’s art, going beyond the context of American realism, to reveal his original and distinctly modern vision.
Divided into five sections by geographical location, the exhibition confirmed Homer’s extraordinary ability to adapt his style and technique to the environment and quintessential landscape of Gloucester, Massachusetts; Cullercoats, England; Prout’s Neck, Maine; the Bahamas; and the Adirondacks.
February 22–May 21, 2006
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, United Kingdom
June 18–September 24, 2006
Musée d’Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France
Winslow Homer, Three Boys on the Shore, 1873. Gouache and watercolor on paper mounted on board, image: 8 5/8 × 13 5/8 in. (21.9 × 34.6 cm), mat: 14 3/8 × 19 1/2 in. (36.5 × 49.5 cm), frame: 16 1/8 × 21 1/4 in. (41 × 54 cm), Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1999.75.
Winslow Homer, The Nurse, 1867. Oil on panel, image: 19 x 11 in. (48.3 x 27.9 cm), frame: 25 13/16 × 17 15/16 × 2 5/8 in. (65.6 × 45.6 × 6.7 cm), Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1999.74.
Installation view of the 2006 Terra Collection Initiative Winslow Homer: Poet of the Sea at the Musée d’Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France.
Winslow Homer, The Life Line, 1884. Etching printed in blue, on cream wove paper, plate: 12 7/8 x 17 3/4 in. (32.7 x 45.1 cm), image: 12 1/4 x 17 1/4 in. (31.1 x 43.8 cm), sheet: 18 5/8 x 24 3/4 in. (47.3 x 62.9 cm), mat: 24 x 30 in. (61.0 x 76.2 cm), Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1996.8.
Winslow Homer, Perils of the Sea, 1888. Etching printed in brownish black ink on cream wove paper, plate: 16 1/2 x 21 3/4 in. (41.9 x 55.2 cm), sheet: 20 3/4 x 24 in. (52.7 x 61.0 cm), Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1995.38.
Installation view of the 2006 Terra Collection Initiative Winslow Homer: Poet of the Sea at the Musée d’Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France.
Levy, Sophie, ed. Winslow Homer: Poet of the Sea. Giverny: Musée d’Art Américain Giverny; London: Dulwich Picture Gallery; Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art; distributed by The University of Chicago Press, 2006.
