Among the Oaks (Live Oaks), Winslow Homer

In the summer of 1883, Winslow Homer moved from New York to Maine. Beginning in 1884, he often spent winters in warmer locations such as the Caribbean islands or Florida to paint and
to fish. He celebrated his 50th birthday on his first visit to Florida in 1886, during which time he created this watercolor. Exhibiting Homer’s attention to the tropical vegetation, the moss-covered oaks fill the sheet, dwarfing the two central horsemen and hounds. Although faded, likely from overexposure to light, the watercolor
still exudes the physical sensation of dripping moss and the variations of filtered light.

Sallie Casey Thayer purchased three works by Winslow Homer for her collection. The watercolor West India Divers and oil painting Cloud Shadows came from Young’s Art Galleries in Chicago, and the watercolor Among the Oaks from the Macbeth Gallery in New York. Both galleries featured watercolors and paintings by American artists, and Young’s was one of the few Chicago galleries that actively supported Homer’s work. Thayer acquired West India Divers in May 1910, just months before Homer’s death. She then acquired Cloud Shadows two years later, in February 1912, and Among the Oaks in March 1913. Her acquisitions came at a time when collectors, critics, scholars, and museums hailed Homer as a distinctive and prominent American artist. Along with the artworks, Thayer bought the contemporary biography The Life and Works of Winslow Homer (1911) by William Howe Downes. While reviewing the memorial exhibition shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1911, A. E. Gallatin, a well-known critic, curator, collector, and artist, endorsed Homer’s art as “typically American,” and the artist, “in many respects…the most representative painter that this country has produced.”

Tap the Related icon to view two other Homer works on display in the exhibition.