Art Institute of Chicago

The Herring Net

Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910)LinkedCulture matchlcp-bcddaaacf48f

Date: 1885
Medium: Oil on canvas
Culture: Prouts Neck
Department: Arts of the Americas
Institution: Art Institute of Chicago
Object ID: 25865

From the Art Institute of Chicago record

Long inspired by the sea, Winslow Homer spent time in 1881 in a fishing community in Tynemouth, England. The experience fundamentally changed his life and work. His paintings thereafter focused almost exclusively on humankind’s age-old contest with nature. In The Herring Net , executed in Prouts Neck, Maine, Homer depicted the heroic efforts of fishermen at their daily work. In a small dory, one figure hauls in glistening herring, while the other, possibly a boy, unloads the catch. Laboring far from the schooners on the horizon, the pair strives to steady the precarious boat as it rides the incoming swells.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
Provenance: Charles W. Gould, New York, by 1908 to 1915; M. Knoedler and Company, New York, 1915; sold to Martin A. Ryerson (1856–1932), Chicago, 1915; by descent to his wife Carrie Hutchinson Ryerson (1859–1937), Chicago, 1932 [ Last Will and Testament of Martin A. Ryerson, Died August 11, 1932 , copy in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago]; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1937.

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Object type: AAT300033618

Part of a LinkedCulture topic

American Watercolor Landscape Art
These 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