Winslow Homer was, with Eakins, one of the most influential
of late 19th-century American painters. He earned a living as an illustrator —
he recorded the Civil War - and this sense of actuality remained in all his works
even after 1875, when he devoted himself to painting. He spent ten months
in France (1866—7) and twice visited England (1881-2), where the sea at
Tynemouth deeply affected his work. In the 1880s and 1890s he revolutionized
American painting by his quasi-impressionist
style allied to Courbet-like studies
of the sea, and shooting and fishing subjects appealing to the American male.
He was also affected by the Japanese craze which arrived in Europe in the 1860s
and is visible in his work in the 70s.
He is represented in the NG, Washington
and many other US museums.
