Winslow Homer An American Vision

by Griffin, Randall C; Ace, Jane

• ISBN13: 9780714839929
• ISBN10: 0714839922
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-07-01
• Publisher: Phaidon Press

Summary

The First Major Critical Survey on the Artist in a Decade;Includes All Major Paintings.WINSLOW HOMER: AN AMERICAN VISION, by Randall C. Griffin, is the firstmajor critical survey on the life and work of Homer, one of America'sbest-loved artists, in the last decade.The book features every one of hismajor paintings alongside a remarkable selection of his lesser-knownetchings and woodcuts.Griffin's thoroughly researched, yet readablestudy, not only presents a full account of Homer's life and work, but alsoa fresh and provocative reassessment of his place in the history ofAmerican art. Randall Griffin, Associate Professor of Art History at Southern MethodistUniversity and an authority on Homer, begins his study of the life andworks of the artist with the astute observation, "Like the poems of WaltWhitman, the pictures of Georgia O'Keeffe, the novels of F. ScottFitzgerald and the music of Duke Ellington, the works of Winslow havehelped shape America's view of itself."Griffin argues that Homer's workexemplifies the aspiration to create specifically American subjects and aspecifically American character.Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was born in Boston, Massachusetts the same yearthat Davey Crockett died at the Alamo. He began his career a magazineillustrator and soon becoming a regular contributor to Harper's Weekly.Inthe early 1860's, Homer was sent by his editor to the front lines of TheCivil War, where he began to work on woodcuts and lithographs of wartimeencampments, some of his lesser-known pieces that are included in thismonograph.In the post-war years Homer turned his attention to theAmerican countryside and its people, and produced Snap the Whip, a paintingthought by many to be his best work.This painting was embraced by criticsas a nationalist masterpiece, reaffirming American ideals and values thathad been lost during the war.In 1883, Homer moved to the New Englandfishing village of Prout's Neck, Maine and, utilizing his watercolorskills, began what was to become his best-known period of seascapes andnautical scenes.Griffin presents an academic yet approachable study of this Americanclassic, expanding on the criticisms and themes of Homer's work, such aspost-war American values, the relationship between nature and man, theAmerican pastoral, and the loss of manhood control.WINSLOW HOMER: ANAMERICAN VISION presents an exceptional array of Homer's gorgeouspaintings, sketches and watercolors and is the most up to date monographavailable on the artist.This beautiful selection of works, paired withGriffin's original research and fresh interpretation, makes this a timelessbook that will compliment any library as well as satisfy the needs ofscholars and general readers alike.

Author Biography

Randall C. Griffin is Associate Professor and Chair of the Division of Art History, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. Professor Griffin is an authority on Homer, with extensive research and teaching experience of the subject, and he is the author of the recently published, scholarly volume Homer, Eakins and Anschutz: the Search for American Identity in the Gilded Age (Penn. State Press), which has received very favourable reviews.

Table of Contents

Introduction	07	(4)
Early Experiences	11	(8)
The American Civil War	19	(24)
Observations of Modern Life	43	(28)
Rural America	71	(24)
A Shift to the Cosmopolitan	95	(16)
England: Shedding the Past	111	(12)
Homer's Refuge in Maine	123	(6)
A Ravenous Sea	129	(18)
A Man's World in the North Woods	147	(22)
A Primordial World	169	(18)
Heaven and Hell in the Tropics	187	(22)
The Final Years	209	(8)
Conclusion	217	(4)
End Notes	221	(10)
Chronology	231	(1)
Selected Bibliography	232	(3)
List of Illustrations	235	(1)
Index	236	(3)
Picture Credits and Acknowledgements	239