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Lot Essay
During the late 1870s Winslow Homer painted some of the most idyllic images of American country life of the late nineteenth century. Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree exemplifies this type of painting, with its genteel subject matter, peaceful ambiance and light-filled setting.
Homer painted Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree in 1879, while staying in Mountainville, New York, at Houghton Farm, the summer home of Lawson Valentine, who was the business partner of Homer's favorite brother, Charles. Winslow Homer concentrated mostly on watercolor painting during the summers of 1878 and 1879, and his achievements in painting light and color in that medium would enhance and inform his technique in his oil paintings depicting figures in the outdoors. Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree reflects these qualities with its bright sense of light and color.
Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree depicts a fashionably dressed woman seated at the base of a tree in a sun-dappled woodland setting. She is dressed in a smart, grey walking suit, modish black hat and matching bag, as well as long gloves. Around her shoulders and on the ground is draped a brilliant red shawl, protecting her from the leaves, flowers and grasses that have fallen on the woodland floor. She focuses her attention on her reading--a newspaper or perhaps an illustrated periodical popular at the time--the cool sunlight reflects off the corners of the paper, sparkling in the sunlight.
L. Goodrich wrote of Homer's genre paintings of single women from the 1860s and 1870s, "His work of these years, as earlier, was much preoccupied with women. But his attitude was less remote, more intimate. The athletic miss was less in evidence and the young ladies now are seen idling in hammocks, reading novels, embroidering, picking flowers, catching butterflies and engaged in other gentle feminine occupations. Often they were shown singly, as individuals rather than merely parts of a scene. Still not idealized, they were pictured with a delicate precision, a sensitiveness to individual character, that would have made him one of our finest portraitists. The note of sentiment was stronger, but still reserved, implicit rather than openly expressed. The artist's attitude, though warmer and more intimate than before, was far from the sensuousness of Manet and Renoir or the mordant realism of Degas. He was still typically American in his air of detachment, his refinement, his lack of frank sensuousness. In heavier hands these pictures might have turned into sentimentality, but Homer's utter honesty and freshness of vision kept them genuine and delightful. Among all his works they have a special and unexpected charm." (Winslow Homer, New York, 1944, p. 56)
During the mid to late 1870s, Homer lightened his palette, and included more luminous settings for his subjects, suggesting that his developing talents in the field of watercolor also affected his approach to painting in oil. L. Goodrich wrote, "A few small oils of women picking blossoms, all evidently painted outdoors, showed new color sensitiveness, doubtless a result of his discoveries in watercolor. They evidenced close study of the subtler modification of light, such as reflected light, and greater awareness of atmosphere. Figures no longer stood out as sharp-edged silhouettes, but were linked in color with their surroundings. Skies were no longer bright hard blue contrasting startlingly with the warm earth, but softer tones that held their place. A new tenderness appeared in his color, which was lighter and cooler, with hues suggesting impressionism."(Winslow Homer, New York, 1944, p. 64)
These qualities are clearly evident in Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree--the dappled light, the touches of yellow pigments to suggest leaves or blossoms dancing in the breeze, and the pattern of light and shade seen through the branches overhead. All of these characteristics underscore the newfound sense of grace and refinement that Homer sought for his finest works of the late 1870s, including Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree.
Scholars have discussed at length the identity of the single women that Homer included in his compositions of the 1870s. N. Cikovsky has written, "In the late 1870s Homer also may have suffered a seriously damaging emotional crisis--a romantic disappointment the nature of which can only be guessed at, but which permanently affected his conduct, causing in particular the defensiveness, mistrustfulness, and reclusiveness that would be salient traits of his personality for the rest of his life. There are many stories of Homer's attraction to women; in early life, he said, he had a 'weakness' for pretty girls, and his paintings (mostly in watercolor) of the 1870s constitute a virtual gallery of women, who, by the very fact of their recurrence, were clearly more closely connected with Homer than professional models would have been. In the 1870s, Homer was in his late forties, of a marriageable age, and, with reasonable prospects of professional success, financially in a marriageable position; what his paintings of the decade may show, apart from everything else, are episodes of or attempts at courtship." (Winslow Homer, Washington, DC, 1995, p. 103-4)
Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree reflects Homer's continued investigation of subjects that depicted women engaged in leisure activities. His great series of the 1860s of women playing croquet would find further expression in works such as Autumn of 1877,The Butterfly Girl of 1878 (The New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut) and Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree of 1879.
When Homer's artistic production changed forever after his trip to Cullercoats, England, from 1881-1882, women engaged in leisure activities as subject matter would all but disappear from his oeuvre. With its bright, clear light and tranquil aspect, Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree exemplifies Homer's depictions of women painted outdoors in the American landcape, and reflects his favored means of expression during this highly personal and expressive period of his career.
This painting will be included in the forthcoming Spanierman Gallery/CUNY/Goodrich/Whitney catalogue raisonné of the works of Winslow Homer.
Homer painted Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree in 1879, while staying in Mountainville, New York, at Houghton Farm, the summer home of Lawson Valentine, who was the business partner of Homer's favorite brother, Charles. Winslow Homer concentrated mostly on watercolor painting during the summers of 1878 and 1879, and his achievements in painting light and color in that medium would enhance and inform his technique in his oil paintings depicting figures in the outdoors. Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree reflects these qualities with its bright sense of light and color.
Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree depicts a fashionably dressed woman seated at the base of a tree in a sun-dappled woodland setting. She is dressed in a smart, grey walking suit, modish black hat and matching bag, as well as long gloves. Around her shoulders and on the ground is draped a brilliant red shawl, protecting her from the leaves, flowers and grasses that have fallen on the woodland floor. She focuses her attention on her reading--a newspaper or perhaps an illustrated periodical popular at the time--the cool sunlight reflects off the corners of the paper, sparkling in the sunlight.
L. Goodrich wrote of Homer's genre paintings of single women from the 1860s and 1870s, "His work of these years, as earlier, was much preoccupied with women. But his attitude was less remote, more intimate. The athletic miss was less in evidence and the young ladies now are seen idling in hammocks, reading novels, embroidering, picking flowers, catching butterflies and engaged in other gentle feminine occupations. Often they were shown singly, as individuals rather than merely parts of a scene. Still not idealized, they were pictured with a delicate precision, a sensitiveness to individual character, that would have made him one of our finest portraitists. The note of sentiment was stronger, but still reserved, implicit rather than openly expressed. The artist's attitude, though warmer and more intimate than before, was far from the sensuousness of Manet and Renoir or the mordant realism of Degas. He was still typically American in his air of detachment, his refinement, his lack of frank sensuousness. In heavier hands these pictures might have turned into sentimentality, but Homer's utter honesty and freshness of vision kept them genuine and delightful. Among all his works they have a special and unexpected charm." (Winslow Homer, New York, 1944, p. 56)
During the mid to late 1870s, Homer lightened his palette, and included more luminous settings for his subjects, suggesting that his developing talents in the field of watercolor also affected his approach to painting in oil. L. Goodrich wrote, "A few small oils of women picking blossoms, all evidently painted outdoors, showed new color sensitiveness, doubtless a result of his discoveries in watercolor. They evidenced close study of the subtler modification of light, such as reflected light, and greater awareness of atmosphere. Figures no longer stood out as sharp-edged silhouettes, but were linked in color with their surroundings. Skies were no longer bright hard blue contrasting startlingly with the warm earth, but softer tones that held their place. A new tenderness appeared in his color, which was lighter and cooler, with hues suggesting impressionism."(Winslow Homer, New York, 1944, p. 64)
These qualities are clearly evident in Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree--the dappled light, the touches of yellow pigments to suggest leaves or blossoms dancing in the breeze, and the pattern of light and shade seen through the branches overhead. All of these characteristics underscore the newfound sense of grace and refinement that Homer sought for his finest works of the late 1870s, including Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree.
Scholars have discussed at length the identity of the single women that Homer included in his compositions of the 1870s. N. Cikovsky has written, "In the late 1870s Homer also may have suffered a seriously damaging emotional crisis--a romantic disappointment the nature of which can only be guessed at, but which permanently affected his conduct, causing in particular the defensiveness, mistrustfulness, and reclusiveness that would be salient traits of his personality for the rest of his life. There are many stories of Homer's attraction to women; in early life, he said, he had a 'weakness' for pretty girls, and his paintings (mostly in watercolor) of the 1870s constitute a virtual gallery of women, who, by the very fact of their recurrence, were clearly more closely connected with Homer than professional models would have been. In the 1870s, Homer was in his late forties, of a marriageable age, and, with reasonable prospects of professional success, financially in a marriageable position; what his paintings of the decade may show, apart from everything else, are episodes of or attempts at courtship." (Winslow Homer, Washington, DC, 1995, p. 103-4)
Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree reflects Homer's continued investigation of subjects that depicted women engaged in leisure activities. His great series of the 1860s of women playing croquet would find further expression in works such as Autumn of 1877,The Butterfly Girl of 1878 (The New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut) and Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree of 1879.
When Homer's artistic production changed forever after his trip to Cullercoats, England, from 1881-1882, women engaged in leisure activities as subject matter would all but disappear from his oeuvre. With its bright, clear light and tranquil aspect, Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree exemplifies Homer's depictions of women painted outdoors in the American landcape, and reflects his favored means of expression during this highly personal and expressive period of his career.
This painting will be included in the forthcoming Spanierman Gallery/CUNY/Goodrich/Whitney catalogue raisonné of the works of Winslow Homer.