The Turkey Buzzard

Artist Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910)

Date1904

Mediumtransparent and opaque watercolor, with rewetting and blotting, over graphite on slightly textured, moderately thick, cream wove paper

Dimensionssheet: 35.4 × 50.1 cm (13 15/16 × 19 3/4 in.)

ClassificationsWatercolors

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Terms

Object number1917.6

Label TextDuring his trip to Florida in 1903-04, Homer visited Homosassa near the Gulf of Mexico. There he painted The Turkey Buzzard and about eleven other watercolors, the last series that he ever painted in this medium. As in other painting trips, he was also in Florida to fish, and this watercolor is painted from the vantage point of a fishing boat. Homer adds dark washes around the brightest areas of the composition, the tree trunks which he defines with the white of the page. Their reflections are achieved in the gray water by scraping away previously applied washes. While the image conveys a sense of stillness and great beauty, a lone buzzard soars above the scene, a refrain to his longstanding interest in the competition of species. While the buzzard is a scavenger, its opposition to the family of birds on the ground creates an eerie tension within the work. A boat with two figures at the right suggests Homer's relationship to the scene: artist, nature lover, fisherman. ProvenanceThe artist; Dr. Alexander C. Humphreys, 1906-17; (American Art Association, New York); (R. C. & N.M. Vose, Boston)

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