Thursday, February 23, 2012

WINSLOW HOMER -- (Random Thoughts for Thursday)

"The Sun will not rise, or set, without my notice and thanks."
                                                                          -- Winslow Homer

Winslow Homer quote, written on Pat Howard demo painting

Happy Birthday (tomorrow) to Winslow Homer (1836-1910), one of the great American artists, and considered the father of the American Watercolor Movement.

A self-taught Boston illustrator, Homer worked for "Harper's Weekly" during the Civil War.  The watercolors came rather late in his 50-year art career.  For over 30 years, his winters were devoted to oil painting, while summers were for outdoor life, and executing hundreds of watercolors.

When asked by a biographer to evaluate his own work, Homer replied, "You will see; in the future, I will live by my watercolors".

Fresh Air, 1878. Watercolor with opaque white highlights over charcoal on paper.  Signed and dated lower right: Winslow Homer/1878 (Dick S. Ramsay Fund)

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