American Seascapes Influenced by Winslow Homer

Winslow Homer gives a classic picture of American life on the east coast. His seascapes and beach scenes help the viewer get an idea of the pace of life, how people viewed work and play in the midst of the late nineteenth century.  The time period of his artwork demonstrates the perfect blend of the fascination with nature that came from Romanticism with the industriousness of the early twentieth century. Homer’s seascapes capture the culture of the time, its ideas, attitudes, and values. His influences on other artists help people today get a tighter grasp on the values of the time period. These artworks paint a picture of romanticized American life in the late nineteenth century.

This exhibit examines Homer’s process of studying beach scenes and seascapes, and shows how his style and subject matter influenced similar artists. It features iconic American artists from the same time period who would have been under the same influences as Homer. They are all from the same general location, the northeast coast, and they all are dealing with similar subject matter. This exhibit features the artists William Merritt Chase, William Trost Richards, and William James Glackens. All the artists featured in this exhibit demonstrate the blend of Romanticism and Industrialism of the period.

Winslow Homer, Eagle Head, Manchester, Massachusetts (High Tide), 1870, oil on canvas, 23.77.2

This painting is a perfect example of the blend of romanticism and industrialism Winslow Homer was trying to invoke. Eagle Head depicts three girls immersed a nature scene, yet there is a sense of distance between humanity and nature. After the civil war, people were less concerned with the sacred otherness of nature that the Romantics stressed, and instead began to portray people doing everyday things, like going to the beach, eating at cafes, or working on the farm.

Winslow Homer, Study for Eagle Head, Manchester, Massachusetts, 1869, oil on wood, 1979.135.1

Winslow Homer created this painting as a study for Eagle Head in particular, though he has many other similar studies for his other seascapes. Winslow Homer’s goal was to create a work that featured both aspects of the Romantic period and the antebellum attitude toward society. He made this study to nail down the naturalistic side of Romanticism. This object does not depict the three girls playing by the seaside because it is a study of the beach, not the people.

Winslow Homer, The Beach, Late Afternoon, 1870-72, oil on wood, 67.187.207

This oil painting is another example of the romantic nature Winslow Homer wanted to express through his artwork. It demonstrates naturalism through the medium itself. This painting is oil on wood, and the wood helps emphasize the naturalism of the subject matter, drawing the viewer to make a deeper connection with the content. This painting was created after Eagle Head, and helps create a timeline of Homer’s work because it has similar subject matter to Eagle Head.

William Merritt Chase, At the Seaside, ca. 1892, oil on canvas, 67.187.123

Twenty-two years after Winslow Homer painted Eagle Head, William Merritt Chase painted At the Seaside. This painting has much more vibrant colors compared to Homer’s seascapes, but despite the pallet differences, the two paintings are very similar in that they portray the leisure time spent by the working class. The time difference between Eagle Head and At the Seaside can be clearly seen because the focus of Chase’s painting is more on the people enjoying the beach than the beach itself. The seascape is less important in Chase’s painting because society has moved toward a period of industrialization.

William Trost Richards, New Jersey Beach, 1901, oil on canvas, 32.73.1

New Jersey Beach, painted by William Trost Richards, follows Chase’s painting by ten years. By the turn of the century, industrialism was in full swing, and romantic ideals had fallen to the wayside. However, Richards’ New Jersey Beach does not reflect this change. Richards sought to return to the romantic ideals of the mid nineteenth century in his seascapes, following in the footsteps of some of Homer’s other paintings, such as The Gulf Stream (1899) or Northeaster (1895).

William James Glackens, Crowd at the Seashore, ca. 1910, oil on canvas, 67.187.126

Glackens’ Crowd at the Seashore shows a strong push toward the industrialization and leisure time stressed by many European impressionistic artists. Although Renoir heavily influenced Glackens, Glackens was not immune to the influence Winslow Homer had on American art. This painting depicts a throng of people pushing toward the beaches of Coney Island. Glackens’ focus is not on the romantic ideal of nature, but is instead emphasizing the society that visits there. This painting shows the beginning of artists departing from the blend of romanticism and industrialism that Winslow Homer expressed.