Skip to main content

Visit Main Menu Block

  • Hours & Admission
  • Accessibility & Amenities
  • Tours & Group Visits
  • Visitor Guidelines

Exhibitions and Events Main Menu Block

  • Exhibitions
  • Events

Art and Design Main Menu Block

  • Collection
  • Collection Research
  • Past Exhibitions
  • Watch / Listen / Read

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Image

Previous image 1 2 3 / 3 Next image

Winslow Homer

English Coastal Scene

Description

Maker

Winslow Homer (American, 1836-1910)

Title

English Coastal Scene

Year

1883

Medium

  • Watercolor and graphite on paper

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Watercolor and graphite on paper

Materials

watercolor, graphite

Supports

  • Textured medium weight hand made wove paper

Dimensions

37.9 x 54.6 cm (14 15/16 x 21 1/2 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscribed in ink on verso, UC towards right:40

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Minnie E. Kelley in memory of Sydney Clarke

Object Number

75.058

Type

  • Drawings and Watercolors

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Landscape and Leisure
19th-Century American Drawings from the Collection
Mar 13, 2015 – Jul 19, 2015

Label copy

Homer traveled to the North Sea village of Cullercoats, England, in the spring of 1881 and stayed there until November 1882. Living in semi-isolation, he painted coastal scenes and life in the fishing village. Here he depicts a woman-diminutive beside a boat-bracing herself against the wind and spray. Wet-on-wet layering, blotting, and some wet scraping suggest the damp atmosphere.

For all the immediacy of the work, the type of paper used suggests that Homer may have painted it from memory after returning to America.

Tradition and Innovation in American Watercolors
Jan 27, 1999 – Apr 11, 1999

Label copy

In the years following his Houghton Farm visits, Homer enlarged his technical and subject repertoire in a wholly new environment. He sailed to England in the spring of 1881 and established residence in the North Sea fishing village of Cullercoats, remaining there until November 1882. English Coastal Scene depicts a woman's interaction with the harsh environment of the village, a familiar theme from this period. Evidence of Homer's adoption of such English techniques as blotting, scraping, and repainting mark a profound turning point in his career as a watercolorist.

Use & Feedback

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Winslow Homer (American, 1836-1910)
English Coastal Scene, 1883
Watercolor and graphite on paper
37.9 x 54.6 cm (14 15/16 x 21 1/2 inches)
Gift of Minnie E. Kelley in memory of Sydney Clarke 75.058

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

RISD Museum

  •  Facebook
  •  Twitter
  •  Instagram
  •  Vimeo
  •  Pinterest
  •  SoundCloud

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Footer Secondary

  • Image Request
  • Press Office
  • Rent the Museum
  • Terms of Use