Standing Shepherdess with her Flock

The present work was likely executed during Homer's extended stay in the summer and fall of 1878 at Houghton Farm, a working homestead in Mountainville, New York, owned by Homer's first and most important patron, Lawson Valentine. Encompassing several of the most important themes from this era of Homer's career, as well as exhibiting his unmatched skill in figural drawing, Standing Shepherdess with her Flock is a beautiful example from one of Homer's most acclaimed series. G.W. Sheldon proclaimed, "Winslow Homer, indeed, never fully found himself until he found the American Shepherdess." (as quoted in F. Ilchman, Winslow Homer in the 1870s: Selections from the Valentine-Pulsifer Collection, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1990, p. 67)