Tynemouth Priory, England, by Winslow Homer, 1881
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Tynemouth Priory, England

Winslow Homer (American, 1836-1910)

1881

Medium
Transparent watercolor, with traces of opaque watercolor, rewetting, blotting and touches of scraping, over graphite, on thick, rough-textured, cream wove paper (top and lower edges trimmed)
Classification
Drawing and Watercolor
Dimensions
26.2 × 50.5 cm (10 3/8 × 19 15/16 in.)
Culture
United States
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago, Prints and Drawings
Credit line
Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the Art Institute of Chicago

About this work

During his 1881-82 stay in England, Homer settled in the small fishing village of Cullercoats. He often depicted fisherfolk in the village and neighboring areas, as in Tynemouth Priory, England, in which a woman and two fishermen occupy a coble that is floating in choppy waters off the coast, and a fisherman wearing yellow gear is busy hauling in a net, presumably filled with the day's catch. A ruined castle and priory that dominate the coast near Tynemouth are visible in the righthand background; Homer would have seen this view daily from his rented studio overlooking Cullercoats Harbor. The artist's use of transparent gray wash for the ruins makes them appear ghostly and desolate in the mist. Overall, this work successfully captures a sense of ocean breezes and moist salt air.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0