How Winslow Homer evokes the power of nature with just a few elements

“The sea is a universal realm, and it's a place that we don't really understand.”

"The sea is a universal realm, and it's a place that we don't really understand."

Curator H. Barbara Weinberg explains Winslow Homer's "Northeaster."

Featured artwork:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11130

Throughout 2013, The Met invited curators from across the Museum to each talk about one artwork that changed the way they see the world. Each episode is interpreted by a Museum photographer.

Photography by Paul Lachenauer

Subscribe for new content from The Met: https://www.youtube.com/user/metmuseum?sub_confirmation=1

#TheMet #ArtExplained #Art


Contributors

H. Barbara Weinberg
Curator Emerita of American Paintings and Sculpture, The American Wing

A warm pastel sketch depicts a woman and a child reading a book on an armchair.
Discover how Wilson’s illustrations for children’s literature emphasized the importance of representation.
Jeary Payne and Jason Reynolds
January 22
A small wooden carved box featuring figures and a tree in relief.
The author of After Sappho offers a queer feminist reading of Eve and the serpent, reimagining sin as likeness, desire, and bodies transcending gender and species.
Selby Wynn Schwartz
January 9
A close-up detail of a painted face rendered in muted green, blue, and gray tones.
Author Leena Krohn reflects on Helene Schjerfbeck’s portrait of Sigrid Nyberg.
Leena Krohn
December 18, 2025
More in:Art ExplainedInspirationArt-MakingNature

A slider containing 1 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Northeaster, Winslow Homer  American, Oil on canvas, American
Winslow Homer
1895; reworked by 1901