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Ship's Boat

Winslow Homer American

1883

Not on view

Homer shows several sailors caught in the crest of a wave, struggling to right their capsized dory (a small, flat-bottomed rowboat). They scrabble against the vessel with their hands, desperately attempting to gain purchase before they crash against the looming rocks. Homer elaborated the context for this disastrous scene in a preparatory drawing, writing that the view was seen "from the retina of a drowned man." This explanation forecloses the possibility of rescue for the protagonist, as his fate is evidently sealed.

Ship's Boat, Winslow Homer (American, Boston, Massachusetts 1836–1910 Prouts Neck, Maine), Watercolor on paper, American — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Ship's Boat

Artist: Winslow Homer (American, Boston, Massachusetts 1836–1910 Prouts Neck, Maine)

Date: 1883

Culture: American

Medium: Watercolor on paper

Dimensions: 15 × 28 1/4 in. (38.1 × 71.8 cm)
Framed: 26 3/8 x 39 1/8 x 1 1/8 in. (67 x 99.4 x 2.9 cm)

Credit Line: New Britain Museum of American Art, Conn., Charles F. Smith Fund (1940.02)

Rights and Reproduction: New Britain Museum of American Art

The Met

The American Wing at The Met

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works by African American, Euro American, Native American, and Latin American artists, ranging from the colonial to early-modern period.