Beneath the Surface

A high-tech investigation helps explain Winslow Homer's staying power

  • By Robert M. Poole
  • Smithsonian magazine, May 2008, Subscribe
 

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The frugal Winslow Homer was at his most parsimonious with words—especially when asked to reveal his aesthetic ideas or his methods of working. "I think it would probably kill me to have such a thing appear," he told a friendly writer who proposed a biography. The artist doggedly rebuffed all such overtures, left only a thin trail of correspondence and remained resolutely tight-lipped, particularly about his artistic views.

But his more than 700 watercolors provide scattered biographical and artistic clues. In the most recent investigation into his methods, mounted by the Art Institute of Chicago, a meticulous study focused on 25 watercolors.

Using a microscope, Kristi A. Dahm, assistant paper conservator at the Art Institute, discovered lines of black pigment—from carbon paper—barely visible in Homer's Man with Plow Horse, an indication that Homer transferred the design from another drawing or sketch. He used carbon paper in the 1860s and 1870s to make copies of his works, to experiment with winning designs in various media and to save time—all of prime concern to Homer.

To create the look of foam in The Watcher, Tynemouth in 1882, Homer used green and blue washes mixed with red for the ocean, let the paint dry, dipped a brush in clear water and made swirls in the waves. He scraped soft pigment from other parts of the picture to produce the look of crashing waves, and then let this dry before adding touches of opaque white watercolor to create areas of thick foam.

Researchers found tiny grains of silica—from sandpaper—buried throughout the surface of Prout's Neck, Breakers, a watercolor Homer completed in 1883. In this picture, where waves rumble over a shelf of rocks and throw up clouds of spray, the artist laid in a blue-gray wash for the sky, allowed it to dry and gently sanded down spots of pigment to the ivory-colored paper beneath, thus summoning up the look of mist and spray. Sanding, scraping and similar methods were known to English watercolorists of Homer's day but were seldom used in America. By studying handbooks and perhaps by interviewing English practitioners, Homer paved the way with these watercolor techniques in the United States, where they are still used.

Homer deployed a knife blade to flick a speck of color from the eye of guide Rufus Wallace, paddling a canoe in Adirondacks Guide. The artist's precision surgery, discovered by microscopic analysis, puts a well-placed glint in the boatman's eye at a moment of reflection.

Analysis of several other works shows that time has altered Homer's original intentions, causing the red skies to fade in such watercolors as The Lone Boat, For to Be a Farmer's Boy and North Woods Club, Adirondacks. In each, Homer touched up the skies with a pink madder wash from red lake pigment, which eventually disappears. To simulate the look of Homer's originals, the Art Institute has produced digital reconstructions on its Web site, www.artic.edu/aic/research/homer.

"We did not set out to demystify Homer," says Martha Tedeschi, the Art Institute curator who conceived the project. "But we have gotten some insight into how this master technician achieved what he did with his watercolors—his works of effortless complexity. He made it look easy, but now we know it wasn't."


The frugal Winslow Homer was at his most parsimonious with words—especially when asked to reveal his aesthetic ideas or his methods of working. "I think it would probably kill me to have such a thing appear," he told a friendly writer who proposed a biography. The artist doggedly rebuffed all such overtures, left only a thin trail of correspondence and remained resolutely tight-lipped, particularly about his artistic views.

But his more than 700 watercolors provide scattered biographical and artistic clues. In the most recent investigation into his methods, mounted by the Art Institute of Chicago, a meticulous study focused on 25 watercolors.

Using a microscope, Kristi A. Dahm, assistant paper conservator at the Art Institute, discovered lines of black pigment—from carbon paper—barely visible in Homer's Man with Plow Horse, an indication that Homer transferred the design from another drawing or sketch. He used carbon paper in the 1860s and 1870s to make copies of his works, to experiment with winning designs in various media and to save time—all of prime concern to Homer.

To create the look of foam in The Watcher, Tynemouth in 1882, Homer used green and blue washes mixed with red for the ocean, let the paint dry, dipped a brush in clear water and made swirls in the waves. He scraped soft pigment from other parts of the picture to produce the look of crashing waves, and then let this dry before adding touches of opaque white watercolor to create areas of thick foam.

Researchers found tiny grains of silica—from sandpaper—buried throughout the surface of Prout's Neck, Breakers, a watercolor Homer completed in 1883. In this picture, where waves rumble over a shelf of rocks and throw up clouds of spray, the artist laid in a blue-gray wash for the sky, allowed it to dry and gently sanded down spots of pigment to the ivory-colored paper beneath, thus summoning up the look of mist and spray. Sanding, scraping and similar methods were known to English watercolorists of Homer's day but were seldom used in America. By studying handbooks and perhaps by interviewing English practitioners, Homer paved the way with these watercolor techniques in the United States, where they are still used.

Homer deployed a knife blade to flick a speck of color from the eye of guide Rufus Wallace, paddling a canoe in Adirondacks Guide. The artist's precision surgery, discovered by microscopic analysis, puts a well-placed glint in the boatman's eye at a moment of reflection.

Analysis of several other works shows that time has altered Homer's original intentions, causing the red skies to fade in such watercolors as The Lone Boat, For to Be a Farmer's Boy and North Woods Club, Adirondacks. In each, Homer touched up the skies with a pink madder wash from red lake pigment, which eventually disappears. To simulate the look of Homer's originals, the Art Institute has produced digital reconstructions on its Web site, www.artic.edu/aic/research/homer.

"We did not set out to demystify Homer," says Martha Tedeschi, the Art Institute curator who conceived the project. "But we have gotten some insight into how this master technician achieved what he did with his watercolors—his works of effortless complexity. He made it look easy, but now we know it wasn't."

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Comments (11)

I just bought an old oil painting of a seascape and it is signed Winslow with no date. It is realistic and beautiful...I wish I knew more about it. How do you clean an old oil painting?

Posted by Crystal on January 24,2012 | 09:17 PM

I have a very old oil painting that I believe to be the work of Winslow Homer. Its overall size with frame is 4' x 3'. Its of a wilderness landscape with a couple of stags for the focal point and deers. I've as well studied the brush strokes of the painting and compared it to W.H other master pieces and found similarities in hand-movement and style. It is signed Lower right W.H.84 and something else thats unreadable. Another interesting point is there has been some touch up patchwork to the back of the canvas. at least 50 years judging by the color and oxidation which says the painting is significant. Did W.H ever did oil paintings of stags? Could this actually be a Winslow Homer masterpiece?

Here's a link to view:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/4444422149_624e16fc30_b.jpg

Posted by Santos Constancio on March 22,2010 | 04:09 AM

I HAVE WHAT I THINK IS A WINSLOW HOMER WATERCOLOR., BUT IVE SEEN ANOTHER ONE IDENTICAL ON MUSEUMS SIGHTS. IS IT POSSIBLE HE DID HIS OWN COPIES, COULD THER BE MORE THAN ONE. THANKS.

Posted by pat grier on March 6,2010 | 10:31 PM

Apparently, several of us have beautiful seascape paintings signed "Winslow". We, too, have had one for a number of years and it really is well done, with sunlight from an clearing stormy sky backlighting breaking waves. It is large, as the others mentioned above, and sounds of similar origin. Who is this painter? This painting I speak of does not appear in any of the on-line displays of Winslow Homer's works. cCc

Posted by Carlton Colmenares on December 20,2009 | 08:14 PM

I HAVE PURCHASED A OIL PAINTING THAT IS A SEASCAPE SIGNED WINSLOW. COULD THIS BE A WINSLOW HOMER PAINTING? WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR TO DETERMINE?? ITS JUST A BEAUTIFUL PAINTING WITH THE CRASHING WAVES WITH LIGHT SHOWING THROUGH.

Posted by LESLIE on November 25,2009 | 04:41 PM

I have a oil masterpiece of a seascape signed Winslow, also a beach scene featuring a rowboat, nearby rocks and a seagull landing. It has an overall size of 24" by 48". The signature is very close to some of Winslow Homer. The painting is very old, oil surface cracked and was found in 1970 very dark with age, also the signature was dicovered only after cleaning.

Posted by John Gonzales on March 27,2009 | 12:08 PM

I too have a painting that is just signed Winslow, it too is a beach scene.

Posted by Chantel on July 24,2008 | 01:24 PM

I did attempt to go to www.artic.edu/aic/research/homer and was not able to find it to research his work can you email me if there was a typo or the site is closed google could not find it,Thanks

Posted by SABRA TIRPE on May 25,2008 | 06:53 PM

For Bart Wuest: To find a copy of Homer's Adirondack Guide watercolor, you might click on the Art Institute of Chicago link above--or go to the website of their museum shop at www.artinstituteshop.org. You can also call them at 1-888-301-9612. Thanks for writing to Smithsonian.

Posted by Robert M. Poole on May 7,2008 | 03:51 PM

A FRIEND OF MINE THINKS THEY HAVE A HOMER PAINTING. IT WAS SIGNED WINSLOW ONLY. DID WINSLOW HOMER SIGN HIS PAINTINGS WITH HIS LAST NAME ONLY. IT IS A SEASCAPE. WHERE CAN HE VERIFY THIS AUTHENTICITY?

Posted by FRANK GRIFFIN on April 27,2008 | 06:19 PM

Upon reading the inset about some of Winslow Homers techniques, I did a search to try and find a reproduction of "Adirondacks Guide" to purchase. The only results were repeated finds of a similar painting, perhaps of the same man, in a rowboat in more of a back-to posing and facing to the left. Are there two paintings titled "Adirondacks Guide"? Is there a chance that the citing in the article is incorrect? I would very much like to find a view of the entire painting referred to in the inset, and if possible, a source for purchasing a print or other reproduction. Thank You E. Bart Wuest Walla Walla, WA

Posted by Bart Wuest on April 26,2008 | 02:16 PM



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