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Standing on a hilltop, an infant in her arms and a young girl beside her, a woman in a wind-blown skirt looks out at the viewer. Although the sparsely painted watercolor does not reveal facial expression, a mood of uncertainty permeates the scene. The viewpoint is from below the figures, who stand on a ridge that makes a strong diagonal across the composition. The palette is largely cool and the sky is filled with billowing clouds. Barren cliffs dominate the left foreground and show drips and splatters indicative of the artist’s rapid technique. Other traces of his process are apparent in the loosely drawn pencil marks that delineate the figures.
In spring 1881, Homer embarked on a trip to England, where he remained for almost nineteen months. After a short stay in London, he gravitated up the east coast, finally settling in at Cullercoats, a small fishing village slightly north of Newcastle-on-Tyne. His exact reasons for selecting this destination are unclear, although it may have reminded him of Gloucester, Massachusetts. He appears to have been taken by the sea, and by the hardworking fishermen and their families, which he painted many times.
In Watching from the Cliffs, Homer suggests a common narrative for fishing communities: women and children waiting anxiously for the successful return of the men with their catch. The residents of Cullercoats were dependent on the sea for their livelihood, and shipwrecks and storms were an ever-present threat. As in many of Homer’s watercolors, the viewer is held in suspension, not knowing the outcome, but if the gesture of the young girl to the right—rather awkwardly rendered—is any indication, there is cause for worry. In Cullercoats, the stalwart and stolid women worked just as hard as the men; they contrasted dramatically with the young women Homer had painted earlier frolicking on American beaches.
In retrospect, the visit to Cullercoats changed Homer’s painting and his lifestyle. In 1882, he abandoned New York and exiled himself to the rugged coast of Maine at Prout’s Neck, where he continued to paint women looking out to sea and storms crashing the rocky shores. A similar watercolor from 1892, in the collection of The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, also titled Watching from the Cliffs, and other paintings suggest that Homer was preoccupied with the ongoing struggle between humans and the sea.
ProvenanceFrom 1905 to at least 1979
Warren family, purchased from the artist in 1905—being used as padding for a framed lithograph; Edward K. Warren, by descent from his mother; Mrs. Edward K. Warren, bequest of her husband Edward K. Warren. [1]
To 1989
Gerold Wunderlich & Co., New York, NY. [2]
From 1989 to 2003
Anne Cannon Reynolds Forsyth (1930-2003), Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Gerold Wunderlich & Co., New York, through Mark A. Scalise in October 1989. [3]
From 2003
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, bequest of Anne Cannon Reynolds Forsyth, Winston-Salem, NC in 2003. [4]
Notes:
[1] Letter from Abigail Booth Gerdts, March 25, 1989, object file.
[2] Letter from Gerold Wunderlich & Co., October 4, 1989, object file.
[3] See note 2.
[4] Collections Committee minutes, November 13, 2003, object file. See also Receipt and Refunding agreement, November 12, 2003; copy of Anne Cannon Forsyth’s will excerpt, object file.
Exhibition History1989
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
2006-2007
American Watercolors: 1880-1965
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (7/1/2006-1/15/2007)
Published ReferencesAthens, Elizabeth, Brandon Ruud, with Martha Tedeschi. Coming Away: Winslow Homer & England. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018. pg. 78.
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Reynolda: Her Muses, Her Stories , with contributions by Martha R. Severens and David Park Curry (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Reynolda House Museum of American Art affiliated with Wake Forest University, 2017). pg 240, 241
DepartmentAmerican Art
Watching from the Cliffs
Artist
Winslow Homer
(1836 - 1910)
Date1881
Mediumwatercolor and graphite on medium weight white watercolor paper
DimensionsFrame: 26 9/16 x 32 1/8 x 1 3/4 in. (67.5 x 81.6 x 4.4 cm)
Paper: 13 11/16 x 19 1/2 in. (34.8 x 49.5 cm)
Image (visible): 13 x 19 in. (33 x 48.3 cm)
SignedHOMER 1881
Credit LineBequest of Anne Cannon Reynolds Forsyth
CopyrightPublic domain
Object number2003.2.1
DescriptionAt a time when watercolor was considered appropriate only for preliminary sketches, Winslow Homer was among the first artists to master it and use it for finished works of art. Watercolor, smaller and more portable than oil, was also extremely useful to Homer as he traveled in this country and abroad. He began working with the medium in the mid-1870s, and quickly developed a facility for painting wet-on-wet and allowing fluid washes to capture the essence of wind, sea, and vegetation.Standing on a hilltop, an infant in her arms and a young girl beside her, a woman in a wind-blown skirt looks out at the viewer. Although the sparsely painted watercolor does not reveal facial expression, a mood of uncertainty permeates the scene. The viewpoint is from below the figures, who stand on a ridge that makes a strong diagonal across the composition. The palette is largely cool and the sky is filled with billowing clouds. Barren cliffs dominate the left foreground and show drips and splatters indicative of the artist’s rapid technique. Other traces of his process are apparent in the loosely drawn pencil marks that delineate the figures.
In spring 1881, Homer embarked on a trip to England, where he remained for almost nineteen months. After a short stay in London, he gravitated up the east coast, finally settling in at Cullercoats, a small fishing village slightly north of Newcastle-on-Tyne. His exact reasons for selecting this destination are unclear, although it may have reminded him of Gloucester, Massachusetts. He appears to have been taken by the sea, and by the hardworking fishermen and their families, which he painted many times.
In Watching from the Cliffs, Homer suggests a common narrative for fishing communities: women and children waiting anxiously for the successful return of the men with their catch. The residents of Cullercoats were dependent on the sea for their livelihood, and shipwrecks and storms were an ever-present threat. As in many of Homer’s watercolors, the viewer is held in suspension, not knowing the outcome, but if the gesture of the young girl to the right—rather awkwardly rendered—is any indication, there is cause for worry. In Cullercoats, the stalwart and stolid women worked just as hard as the men; they contrasted dramatically with the young women Homer had painted earlier frolicking on American beaches.
In retrospect, the visit to Cullercoats changed Homer’s painting and his lifestyle. In 1882, he abandoned New York and exiled himself to the rugged coast of Maine at Prout’s Neck, where he continued to paint women looking out to sea and storms crashing the rocky shores. A similar watercolor from 1892, in the collection of The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, also titled Watching from the Cliffs, and other paintings suggest that Homer was preoccupied with the ongoing struggle between humans and the sea.
ProvenanceFrom 1905 to at least 1979
Warren family, purchased from the artist in 1905—being used as padding for a framed lithograph; Edward K. Warren, by descent from his mother; Mrs. Edward K. Warren, bequest of her husband Edward K. Warren. [1]
To 1989
Gerold Wunderlich & Co., New York, NY. [2]
From 1989 to 2003
Anne Cannon Reynolds Forsyth (1930-2003), Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Gerold Wunderlich & Co., New York, through Mark A. Scalise in October 1989. [3]
From 2003
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, bequest of Anne Cannon Reynolds Forsyth, Winston-Salem, NC in 2003. [4]
Notes:
[1] Letter from Abigail Booth Gerdts, March 25, 1989, object file.
[2] Letter from Gerold Wunderlich & Co., October 4, 1989, object file.
[3] See note 2.
[4] Collections Committee minutes, November 13, 2003, object file. See also Receipt and Refunding agreement, November 12, 2003; copy of Anne Cannon Forsyth’s will excerpt, object file.
Exhibition History1989
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
2006-2007
American Watercolors: 1880-1965
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (7/1/2006-1/15/2007)
Published ReferencesAthens, Elizabeth, Brandon Ruud, with Martha Tedeschi. Coming Away: Winslow Homer & England. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018. pg. 78.
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Reynolda: Her Muses, Her Stories , with contributions by Martha R. Severens and David Park Curry (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Reynolda House Museum of American Art affiliated with Wake Forest University, 2017). pg 240, 241
Status
Not on viewCollections