Old Friends

Artist Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910)

Date1894

Mediumwatercolor and opaque watercolor over graphite with scraping on thick, white wove paper

Dimensionssheet: 54.6 x 38.4 cm (21 1/2 x 15 1/8 in.)

ClassificationsWatercolors

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Terms

Object number1908.3

Label TextHomer’s watercolor of the Adirondack wilderness presents the artist at the height of his talents. Upon close inspection, one sees that green paint originally extended further upwards along the far-left side of the sheet. It was here that Homer masterfully scraped the heavily textured paper to fashion a cloud. In this way, he used subtraction to enhance the illusion of three-dimensional space, enabling the viewer to read the tree trunk as rounded. The majestic tree stands in stark contrast to the young saplings on the right side of the drawing. Rendered using slender black strokes, they lack the authority and dignity of the weathered old-growth tree. Art historian Susan Strickler notes in her catalogue American Traditions in Watercolor, that “[Homer] underscored the kinship between the old man and the ancient tree by rendering both in the same rich grays and siennas.”ProvenanceThe artist; (E.L. Knoedler, New York);

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