They look nearly as vibrant as the day Homer painted them<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The setting of the MFA Boston is particularly apt. The museum was one of the first to support Homer\u2019s career, acquiring Fog Warning (1885) in 1894, a painting of a lone fisherman rowing into a foreboding sea. Soon after, the museum began expanding its holdings, adding another ten oil paintings and nearly 50 watercolours by the artist\u2014representing one of the largest collections of Homer\u2019s work. Sensitive to light, the watercolours in Of Light and Air are seldom exhibited. Displaying them in lower light to protect against fading, the show will offer a chance to see dozens of these fragile works together for the first time in nearly 50 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince many of the watercolours have been in the MFA\u2019s collection for decades\u2014and in some cases over a century\u2014they look nearly as vibrant as the day Homer painted them,\u201d says the show\u2019s co-curator Christina Michelon.<\/p>\n
Among the highlights will be Leaping Trout (1889), a playful watercolour showing two fish mid-air, their spots and colouration rendered in precise detail. The work is noteworthy for its skilful execution and quirky imagery, and was the first Homer watercolour to be acquired by any museum, entering the MFA\u2019s collection in 1899.<\/p>\n
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Leaping Trout (1889), the first of Winslow Homer\u2019s watercolours to be acquired by any museum<\/p>\n
\u00a9 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston<\/p>\n
\u201cHomer began working seriously in the medium of watercolour mid-career at the age of 37,\u201d says the co-curator Ethan Lasser. \u201cWe hope visitors are inspired by his example of trying something new and pushing the boundaries of what\u2019s possible. Watercolour is a challenging and often unforgiving medium, but Homer kept experimenting and expanding his ability to work with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of Light and Air joins a recent lineup of exhibitions of Homer\u2019s work, including shows at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harvard Art Museum and the Cape Ann Museum. Bringing together works in a variety of mediums, the MFA hopes to illustrate how Homer used materials to convey different subjects. \u201cFor example, in the oils he is often tackling grand narratives and existential questions, whereas his watercolours are much more immediate and observational,\u201d Lasser explains.<\/p>\n
The show will also feature an homage to Homer\u2019s mother, Henrietta Benson Homer, who was a watercolour artist. One of her studies of monarch butterflies will be paired with a painting of his depicting swallowtails, which looks like a \u201cquotation of his mother\u2019s work not long after she passed away\u201d, Michelon says. Presenting this deep, intimate view of Homer\u2019s work, Michelon adds, is a way to inspire a new generation of visitors to \u201cslow down and look closely, relish the details, and appreciate the nuances of the work and the environments they depict\u201d.<\/p>\n