In his Prouts Neck pictures, Homer envisioned nature as an arena for the constant clash of forces — water against rock, humankind against the elements. Eight Bells (1886, Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy), for example, represents fishermen facing stormy weather at sea with Homer’s characteristic narrative ambiguity that leaves the viewer wondering about their fate.

Other pictures in the exhibition, such as High Cliff, Coast of Maine (1894, Smithsonian American Art Museum) and West Point, Prouts Neck (1900, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute), capture the elemental dramas of nature with closely observed depictions of the seashore in varying seasons and conditions. Homer’s iconic painting Fox Hunt (1893), which rarely leaves the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, will make its first visit to Maine since its creation. This masterwork thematizes mortality and evolutionary conceptions about the survival of the fittest that arose in the late 19th century.

The relationship between Winslow Homer and the Portland Museum of Art is long-standing and intimate — indeed Homer exhibited at the Museum in 1893 and his legacy runs throughout the history of the institution. 

The Museum’s Homer collection also includes such notable objects as his first important oil painting, Sharpshooter (1863); an original watercolor paint box; and a significant collection of 400 wood-engravings (that represents 90% of Homer’s graphic output and chronicles the artist’s early career as a commercial illustrator). In 2006, the Museum purchased Homer’s studio at Prouts Neck, located 12 miles from the Museum, from Homer’s great grand-nephew. The restored Studio is opening to the public on September 25, 2012.

Weatherbeaten, 1894, Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Bequest of Charles Shipman Payson. Photo by Melville D. McLean

Weatherbeaten: Winslow Homer and Maine was organized by Thomas Denenberg, former Chief Curator at the Portland Museum of Art and current Director of the Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont. Karen Sherry, Curator of American Art at the Portland Museum of Art, is the in-house curator. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue that provides a lasting record of the research that guided the Studio restoration project and introduces new perspectives on Homer’s life and late work. Published by Yale University Press. 

For a visit to the studio, consult the Fall 2012 details at the studio tour page.  Consider visiting online the Studio store with items such as hand-crafted Maine items.

A National Historic Landmark, the renovated Winslow Homer Studio will celebrate the artist’s life, encourage scholarship on Homer, and educate audiences to appreciate the artistic heritage of Winslow Homer and Maine. Visitors will get the extraordinary opportunity to walk in Homer’s footsteps and to experience the same dramatic views of sea and sky that influenced his artistic vision. The first season of guided tours is from September 25 through December 2, 2012; reservations are required and ticket information is available at www.portlandmuseum.org.

“The opening of the Winslow Homer Studio will be a pivotal moment in American art history. For the first time, visitors will be able to experience the Studio as it was during Homer’s time and discover the actual location where he created his best-known paintings,” said PMA Director Mark H. C. Bessire. “The Studio is truly a cultural treasure.”

The Studio is located on the rocky coast of Maine just 12 miles south of the Portland Museum of Art. The Museum purchased the Studio in 2006 from Charles Homer Willauer, the great grand-nephew of Homer, and has raised $10.8 million thus far in a national capital campaign to support the acquisition, preservation, interpretation, and endowment of the Studio. With the assistance of architects, historians, and skilled craftspeople, the Museum restored the building to its appearance during Homer’s lifetime at a cost of $2.8 million.

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