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  • Waves crashing against dark rocks, with a lone sailboat drifting in the distance.
  • Waves crashing against dark rocks, with a lone sailboat drifting in the distance.
  • Waves crashing against dark rocks, with a lone sailboat drifting in the distance.

Winslow Homer

On a Lee Shore
Now On View

Maker

Winslow Homer (American, 1836-1910)

Title

On a Lee Shore

Year

1900

Medium

  • Oil on canvas

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Oil on canvas

Materials

oil paint

Supports

  • canvas

Dimensions

99.1 x 99.1 cm (39 x 39 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signature: Signed LL in dark brown: Homer

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Jesse Metcalf Fund

Object Number

01.003

Type

  • Paintings

Publications

  • Books

A Handbook of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

  • Books

Exchange Exhibition, Exhibition Exchange: From the Collection of Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University; From the Collection of The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence.

  • Books

Selection VII: American Painting from the Museum's Collection, c.1800-1930

  • Books

Selected Works

Exhibition History

18th and 19th-Century American Galleries
Jun 19, 2015
Charles Pendleton House
Jan 02, 2015
Making It In America
Oct 11, 2013 – Feb 09, 2014

Label copy

Homer focused his attention on the rocky shores near his studio at Prout’s Neck, Maine, during the final decades of his career. In this view of a sailing ship in the crashing Atlantic, the somber palette, aggressive brushstrokes, and open, square format address human vulnerability in the face of nature’s dominating presence. The title refers to leeward winds that blow towards the coastline; a craft that cannot alter its course to windward risks being run aground or dashed upon the rocks. This dramatic composition was one of the first important American paintings to enter the RISD Museum’s collection.

American Art from the Permanent Collection
May 01, 2010 – Aug 31, 2014

Label copy

In this view of crashing surf and a sailing vessel “on a lee shore,” Winslow Homer conjures man’s vulnerability in the face of nature. The somber palette and broad brushstrokes of his aggressive style characterized a shift away from inhabited landscapes to wilder, unpopulated scenes near his home at Prout’s Neck, Maine. The painting was acquired by the Museum within a year of its creation, but only after it had been returned to the artist’s dealer by a collector whose interests had suddenly changed. Happy that it had found a permanent home, Homer wrote that he considered On a Lee Shore “a very excellent painting.” It became an important first purchase from a fund established in honor of one of RISD’s founders, Jesse Metcalf.

An American Idyll
19th-Century Paintings and Decorative Arts
Apr 06, 2007 – Jan 06, 2008

Label copy

Winslow Homer’s dramatic view of the coast near Prout’s Neck, Maine, was one of the first important American paintings to enter the RISD Museum’s collection. Like so many 19th century-American artists, Homer had been a printmaker, draftsman, and successful illustrator before he learned to paint. Essentially self-taught, he came to employ fluid brushstrokes in a realist style that he applied to compositions of figures out-of-doors (see his Fishin’ elsewhere in this gallery). His later work shifted from inhabited landscapes to wilder, unpopulated scenes. In these poetic compositions, he found a deeper level of emotional engagement with nature and its power.

Homer’s view of the crashing Atlantic surf and a sailing ship “on a lee shore” address the dark reality of the ocean’s dominating presence. Leeward winds blow towards the coastline. A craft that cannot alter its course to windward is at risk of being run aground or dashed upon the rocky coast. The painting’s somber palette, broad, aggressive brushstrokes, and dramatically contained square format are combined to express man’s vulnerability in the face of nature.

  • More Exhibition History +

Image use

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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)
On a Lee Shore, 1900
Oil on canvas
99.1 x 99.1 cm (39 x 39 inches)
Jesse Metcalf Fund 01.003

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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