Boys and Kitten

Artist Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910)

Date1873

Mediumtransparent and opaque watercolor over graphite on thick, textured, cream wove paper

Dimensions24.4 x 34.6 cm (9 5/8 x 13 5/8 in.)

ClassificationsWatercolors

Credit LineSustaining Membership Fund

Object number1911.1

Label TextHomer used watercolor washes in drawings for engravings and preparatory sketches early in his career. He made his first dedicated watercolors, including Boys and Kitten, during the summer of 1873. Unlike his later, more refined watercolors, here one can see Homer’s early experimentation with the medium. He likely conceived of the drawing as a smaller work, evident in the ghostly apparition of a previous signature that hovers above the more prominent signature in the right corner.ProvenanceEstate of the artist, sold through William Macbeth, New York to Worcester Art Museum on March 3, 1911.

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