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Lot Essay
Winslow Homer executed Fishing Fleet at Gloucester during the summer of 1880 while living on Ten Pound Island in the center of Gloucester Harbor. Because Ten Pound Island had no public accommodations, Homer stayed in the island's lighthouse as a guest, and rowed across the harbor to town when in need of supplies. Homer spent the summer exploring the harbor and its fishing fleet, and created numerous works in watercolor and graphic media such as Fishing Fleet at Gloucester, which depicts several fishing schooners heading out to sea from Gloucester Harbor. The distant lighthouse may be that of Ten Pound Island, or more likely the lighthouse located further out of the harbor on Eastern Point.
Using the simplest media--graphite and white gouache--Homer has suggested the sense of light and atmosphere that is unique to the Atlantic coast. At the same time the drawing reflects Homer's fondness for the fishing fleet, subject matter that he would explore again in such masterworks as The Fog Warning of 1885 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts) and The Herring Net also of 1885 (Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois). D.S. Atkinson has written, "In the drawings and watercolors of 1880, Homer not only acknowledged the importance of the schooner to the fishing port but understood how its beautiful form could be emblematic of this summer's compositions. Homer took such care in his representations that it is clear he is often delineating the architecture of a specific ship rather than a generic type. With his keen powers of observation, Homer became successor to Fitz Hugh Lane, who had accurately depicted ships in the harbor during the 1850s and sixties." (Winslow Homer in Gloucester, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, 1990, p. 51).
Notations on the back of the drawing indicate that Homer probably exhibited Fishing Fleet at Gloucester at his exhibition of over 100 drawings and watercolors at Doll and Richards in Boston in early December of 1880. Edward Hooper, an important patron of Homer's who collected many drawings and watercolors that were later given to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, most likely purchased Fishing Fleet at Gloucester from the exhibition at Doll and Richards.
Commenting on this exhibition, a critic for the American Art Review noted that Homer's watercolors and drawings "in their extreme simplicity, vividly recalled the style of Japanese artists, in the good sense of the term." (As quoted in P. Provost, Winslow Homer's Drawings in 'Black-and-White,' c. 1875-1885, Ph. D. diss., Princeton University, 1994, p. 173) This critic's sensitivity to Homer's subtle use of media reveals the timelessness of Homer's simple, yet powerful, compositions.
This drawing will be included in the forthcoming Spanierman Gallery/CUNY/Goodrich/Whitney catalogue raisonné of the works of Winslow Homer.
Using the simplest media--graphite and white gouache--Homer has suggested the sense of light and atmosphere that is unique to the Atlantic coast. At the same time the drawing reflects Homer's fondness for the fishing fleet, subject matter that he would explore again in such masterworks as The Fog Warning of 1885 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts) and The Herring Net also of 1885 (Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois). D.S. Atkinson has written, "In the drawings and watercolors of 1880, Homer not only acknowledged the importance of the schooner to the fishing port but understood how its beautiful form could be emblematic of this summer's compositions. Homer took such care in his representations that it is clear he is often delineating the architecture of a specific ship rather than a generic type. With his keen powers of observation, Homer became successor to Fitz Hugh Lane, who had accurately depicted ships in the harbor during the 1850s and sixties." (Winslow Homer in Gloucester, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, 1990, p. 51).
Notations on the back of the drawing indicate that Homer probably exhibited Fishing Fleet at Gloucester at his exhibition of over 100 drawings and watercolors at Doll and Richards in Boston in early December of 1880. Edward Hooper, an important patron of Homer's who collected many drawings and watercolors that were later given to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, most likely purchased Fishing Fleet at Gloucester from the exhibition at Doll and Richards.
Commenting on this exhibition, a critic for the American Art Review noted that Homer's watercolors and drawings "in their extreme simplicity, vividly recalled the style of Japanese artists, in the good sense of the term." (As quoted in P. Provost, Winslow Homer's Drawings in 'Black-and-White,' c. 1875-1885, Ph. D. diss., Princeton University, 1994, p. 173) This critic's sensitivity to Homer's subtle use of media reveals the timelessness of Homer's simple, yet powerful, compositions.
This drawing will be included in the forthcoming Spanierman Gallery/CUNY/Goodrich/Whitney catalogue raisonné of the works of Winslow Homer.