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Boys in a Dory

Winslow Homer American
1873
Not on view
This charming sheet dates from the first phase of Homer's professional work in watercolor. Having visited a landmark exhibition sponsored by the American Society of Painters in Water Colors in New York, Homer spent the summer of 1873 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the picturesque fishing port on Cape Ann, north of Boston. There, he undertook a series of small-scale watercolors depicting boys and girls rowing dories, sitting on the wharves, involved in modest tasks, or playing on the beach. These delightful images of childhood pastimes echo in subject and handling his oils of the same period, including the Museum's much-appreciated "Snap the Whip" (1872; acc. no. 50.41).

Homer's early watercolors are simple and direct, reflecting the innocent, idyllic nature of his subjects. They also reveal his cautious approach to the new medium, in that they feature washes of color carefully applied within pale pencil outlines and much opaque pigment. Nonetheless, "Boys in a Dory," in particular, demonstrates Homer's ability to capture the scintillating effects of dazzling sunlight, rippling water, and luminous atmosphere in boat-filled Gloucester Harbor. Such effects predict the brilliance of his later travel watercolors, grand sheets that validate his prediction: "You will see, in the future I will live by my watercolors."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Boys in a Dory
  • Artist: Winslow Homer (American, Boston, Massachusetts 1836–1910 Prouts Neck, Maine)
  • Date: 1873
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Watercolor washes and gouache over graphite underdrawing on medium rough textured white wove paper
  • Dimensions: 9 3/4 x 13 7/8 in. (24.8 x 35.2 cm)
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Molly Flagg Knudtsen, 2001
  • Object Number: 2001.608.1
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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Annie Lawrie (Sheet music cover), Winslow Homer American, Lithograph
Annie Lawrie (Sheet music cover)
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Sunday Morning in Virginia – From the Painting by Winslow Homer in the National Academy of Design (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. XXIV), Winslow Homer American, Wood engraving
Sunday Morning in Virginia – From the Painting by Winslow Homer in the National Academy of Design (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. XXIV)
Winslow Homer
May 22, 1880
A Quiet Day in the Country (from "Appleton's Journal," Vol. III), Winslow Homer American, Wood engraving
A Quiet Day in the Country (from "Appleton's Journal," Vol. III)
Winslow Homer
D. Appleton & Co.
June 6, 1870
George Blake's Letter (The Galaxy, An Illustrated Magazine of Entertaining Reading, Vol. IX), Winslow Homer American, Wood engraving
George Blake's Letter (The Galaxy, An Illustrated Magazine of Entertaining Reading, Vol. IX)
Winslow Homer
January 1870
"I Cannot! It Would Be a Sin! A Fearful Sin!" (The Galaxy, An Illustrated Magazine of Entertaining Reading, Vol. VI), Winslow Homer American, Wood engraving
"I Cannot! It Would Be a Sin! A Fearful Sin!" (The Galaxy, An Illustrated Magazine of Entertaining Reading, Vol. VI)
Winslow Homer
September 1868

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