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Winslow Homer

Girl and Daisies

Maker

Winslow Homer (American, 1836-1910)

Title

Girl and Daisies

Year

1878

Medium

  • Watercolor and opaque watercolor on beige paper

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Watercolor and opaque watercolor on beige paper

Materials

watercolor

Supports

  • Smooth medium weight machine made wove paper

Dimensions

15.2 x 17.5 cm (6 x 6 7/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed:Homer, 1878

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Bequest of Isaac C. Bates

Object Number

13.811

Type

  • Drawings and Watercolors

Exhibition History

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

Label copy

In this Houghton Farm subject, Homer combined some of his watercolor paint with zinc white to create opaque watercolor, applying it in layers atop the background field to create the effect of sun reflecting off the grass. Blue mixed with white suggests the sky shining through the trees, while specks of white and color make up the profusion of daisies dancing in the sunlight.

Homer’s friendship with Lawson Valentine in the 1870s led to repeated visits to the latter’s expansive rural property, Houghton Farm, in upstate New York. Homer’s works from the farm-four of which are on this wall-evoke a rural childhood idyll.

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

Label copy

Frequent visits to Houghton Farm, which belonged to a family friend, inspired Girl and Daisies, Boy and Horse, and Girl and Sheep between the years 1876 and 1879. Homer's focus on farm life and childhood in this decade has been attributed to a widespread wave of post-Civil War nostalgia for an agrarian past in the face of a growing urban immigrant population and a restive labor force.

Selection 1
American Watercolors and Drawings from the Museum's Collection
Dec 30, 1971 – Jan 23, 1972
American Watercolors and Drawings from the 19th and 20th Centuries
May 20, 1947 – Oct 19, 1947
European and American Watercolors and Drawings from the Permanent Collection
Feb 26, 1947 – Mar 10, 1947

Image use

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

Public Domain 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)
Girl and Daisies, 1878
Watercolor and opaque watercolor on beige paper
15.2 x 17.5 cm (6 x 6 7/8 inches)
Bequest of Isaac C. Bates 13.811

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.

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