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Winslow Homer

Girl and Daisies, 1878

Description

Maker

  • Winslow Homer, 1836-1910, American

Title

Girl and Daisies

Year

1878

Medium

Watercolor and opaque watercolor on beige paper

Materials/Techniques

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

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Drawings and Watercolors

Credit

Bequest of Isaac C. Bates

Object Number

13.811

Projects & Publications

Publications

Winslow Homer's Empire State

Houghton Farm and Beyond

Record of Works by Winslow Homer

Volume III 1877 to March 1881

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Landscape and Leisure

March 13 - July 19, 2015

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

January 27 - April 11, 1999

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

December 30, 1971 - January 23, 1972

American Watercolors and Drawings from the 19th and 20th Centuries

May 20 - October 19, 1947

European and American Watercolors and Drawings from the Permanent Collection

February 26 - March 10, 1947

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 (CC0 1.0). This object is Girl and Daisies with the accession number of 13.811. To request high-resolution files or 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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