Winslow Homer

Winslow Homer (born Feb. 24, 1836, Boston, Mass., U.S. — died Sept. 29, 1910, Prouts Neck, Maine) was an American painter. He served an apprenticeship with a Boston lithographer, then became a freelance illustrator in New York City while persuing a career as a painter.

He exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1860 and was elected a member in 1865. He became a master of watercolor and his ability as an oil painter matured; he focused increasingly on solitary, withdrawn figures. He spent 1881 – 82 in the English village of Tynemouth, on the North Sea, where the coastal atmosphere, and stoic people are the subjects of some of his most powerful images. In 1883 he moved permanently to Prouts Neck, Maine, and his dominant theme became the sea and the endless struggle against nature. In his later years he continued to paint vigorously. Though he was recognized in his lifetime as a leading U.S. painter, appreciation of his enormous achievement came only after his death.