Art Institute of Chicago
The Outlook, Maine Coast
Winslow HomerLinkedCulture matchlcp-bcddaaacf48f
- Date
- 1894
- Medium
- Transparent watercolor, with traces of opaque watercolor, rewetting, blotting, spatter and traces of scraping, over graphite, on moderately thick, slightly textured, ivory wove paper
- Culture
- United States
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 16812
From the Art Institute of Chicago record
The Outlook, Maine Coast depicts two young women bracing themselves against the wind on a high overlook at Prout’s Neck, Maine. Rather than focusing on what the women are watching, Homer chose to explore the act of looking. Homer, a keen and thoughtful observer himself, was fascinated with the experience of watching. In this watercolor, he associated visual observation with physical sensations: the feeling of strong breezes, moisture in the air, and the chill of an overcast day. Because it allowed Homer to work outdoors quickly, watercolor was the perfect medium to make these atmospheric effects tangible and immediate. In The Outlook, Maine Coast , Homer was especially successful in creating the sense of moving air. The low vantage point also contributes to the emphasis on the windy sky of gray and pink clouds.
The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
- Provenance
- The artist to his brother, Charles S. Homer, Jr. (1834–1917), New York, by 1910 [according to correspondence from Abigail Booth Gerdts to the Art Institute, February 2007]. Charles W. Gould (1849–1931), New York, by 1915 [Brooklyn exh. cat. 1915]. Sold by Knoedler and Company, New York, to Martin A. Ryerson (1856–1932), Chicago, November 11, 1915 [invoice]; given to the Art Institute, 1933.
Linked open data
Authority identifiers that link this record into the wider web of cultural data — stable references you can follow to the source.
- Object type
- AAT300033973
Part of LinkedCulture topics
American Landscape and Coastal PaintingsThese works are 19th-century oil paintings depicting natural landscapes and seascapes from the northeastern United States, particularly coastal New England regions and rocky shores.
140 objects from 4 institutions
American Watercolor Landscape ArtThese objects are predominantly watercolor and drawing works by American artists depicting natural landscapes, outdoor recreational activities, and coastal or wilderness scenes from the 19th century.
63 objects from 3 institutions
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Art Institute of Chicago and other institutions.