Winslow Homer
American, 1836-1910
Netting the Fish
INV-1483
Winslow Homer
American, 1836-19101889
Netting the Fish
Winslow Homer American, 1836-1910 →ink or chalk washdrawings (visual works)
Date
1889
Medium
Transparent watercolor, heightened with opaque white watercolor, with rewetting, blotting, and scraping, over graphite, on moderately thick, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions
35.3 × 50.8 cm (13 15/16 × 20 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Olivia Shaler Swan Memorial Collection
An avid angler and sportsman, Homer often depicted fishing and hunting scenes in his artwork. Many of his watercolors that explore these subjects were painted on frequent trips to the Adirondack Mountains. Netting the Fish is unusual in its focus on a gentleman sportsman. Young, well groomed, and neatly attired, the fisherman in this watercolor stands in contrast to the rustic guides featured in many of the artist’s other Adirondacks works. Homer’s fluid brushstrokes describe the smooth surface of the water, and his background washes evoke the wooded shoreline seen at a distance. Netting the Fish is one of Homer’s few grisaille, or monochrome, watercolors, painted as a study of values in preparation for the etching Fly Fishing, Saranac Lake.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
