# Fishing off Scarborough

- By: Winslow Homer (American, 1836-1910)
- Date: 1882
- Medium: Graphite and opaque white watercolor, with traces of black chalk, on medium weight, slightly-textured, tan laid paper with blue and red fibers
- Classification: Drawing and Watercolor
- Dimensions: 46.2 × 61.8 cm (18 1/4 × 24 3/8 in.)
- Culture: United States
- Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/16788)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/3d6db404-4216-ae99-75cb-989e8e915305/full/843,/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

During Homer’s sojourn in England from 1881 to 1882, he rented a studio on a cliff overlooking Cullercoats Harbor, where he observed the comings and goings of fishing boats. Fishing Off Scarborough shows two young women and two fishermen in a coble as it slices through coastal waters. Carefully rendered in graphite, the figures and fishing boat stand in contrast to Homer’s spontaneous, abstract representation of clouds, mist, and spray done in opaque white watercolor. In addition to employing graphite to describe concrete objects, Homer used his pencil to suggest abstract effects, such as smoke rising from the steamship in the right background. Fishing Off Scarborough served as the basis for Homer’s 1883 watercolor, Returning Fishing Boats, which the artist completed after his return to New York from England.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0