Coast in Winter

Artist Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910)

Date1892

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensionscanvas: 72.4 × 122.6 cm (28 1/2 × 48 1/4 in.)
framed: 112.4 × 163.2 × 16.5 cm (44 1/4 × 64 1/4 × 6 1/2 in.)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineTheodore T. and Mary G. Ellis Collection

Terms

Object number1940.60

Label TextIn this classic winter seascape at Prout's Neck, Maine, the artist's place of residence after 1883, human presence is implied by the footsteps in the snow at the bottom left corner of the painting. A short brushstroke on top of the hill represents ambiguously either a human figure or a barren tree. In a characteristic effort to integrate the parts of a painting, the curling lines of the low-lying brush in the foreground are echoed by a similar web of calligraphic strokes along the foamy edge of the large wave. Homer balances the weight of this swell with the rocky coast that stretches to the sea along a diagonal course, a format that he used in several coastal scenes. Homer would continue to feature human figures in his work in the last decades of his career, yet they were often reduced in scale and importance, allowing him to focus on the natural world. In his Coast in Winter, the sea, in fact, becomes the protagonist. Homer yielded much of the canvas to the roiling sea, capturing in thick daubs of white and grey the crest of a wave as it prepares to crash into the shore. Although a trail of footprints in the left foreground lead into the scene and suggest human presence, the figure itself is effaced.Provenanceartist; Thomas B. Clark, New York, 1892-99; (American Art Association, New York, T.B. Clark sale, 1899, no. 59); Chauncey J. Blair, Chicago, 1899-1916; (Scott and Fowls, New York); (Macbecth, New York); Theodore T. Ellis, Worcester MA, 1919

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