“Breezing Up” is considered one of Homer’s finest paintings. Today, it is part of the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
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STEVE EMBER: In the late eighteen seventies, experts say Homer experienced some kind of crisis. Before, he had been a very social person. But after this period, he withdrew from social activities. Some critics say he had an unhappy relationship with a woman.
Whatever changed him, Homer must have felt a need to escape. He traveled to Britain in eighteen eighty-one. He spent most of his time in the fishing village of Cullercoats, near New Castle. There he painted many pictures of life and events on and near the sea.
BARBARA KLEIN: Homer returned to the United States the following year. He settled in Prouts Neck, Maine. He would call it home for the rest of his life. His brothers, Arthur and Charles, both owned houses there. It appeared that Homer withdrew from social life. He avoided visits from people wanting to meet America’s greatest living painter.
Winslow Homer's The Dinner Horn (Blowing the Horn at Seaside), 1870
But Homer’s later life was also filled with travel, which provided subjects for his paintings. He visited warm places – Bermuda, the Bahamas, Cuba and the American state of Florida. He made several trips to fish and to paint. In these places, he used bright watercolor paints.
STEVE EMBER: Homer also spent time in the Adirondack Mountains in New York State. There he found rich subject matter in the people, hunters and wildlife of the area. But now, a new subject became more important in his work. As he grew older, Homer increasingly painted subjects facing death.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25