The Watercolors of Winslow Homer

by Miles Unger, Winslow Homer
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Editorial Reviews

Winslow Homer's first medium was oil painting, although to make ends meet, he did commercial illustration and chronicled the New York City social scene. Eventually, Homer withdrew from city life altogether to settle at Prout's Neck on the rocky New England coast. There he turned to watercolour, in part for financial reasons (watercolours were easier to sell), but the newly popular medium also enabled him to capture his impressions of scenery and landscapes encountered during his many travels with an immediacy and directness impossible in the more time-consuming oils. Of his more than 700 watercolours, over 140 are reproduced here, dating from the 1870s to the turn of the century and ranging from pastoral to narrative, dramatic to serene. Miles Unger's text provides insight into the artist's technical mastery of the medium and discusses the importance of Homer's watercolours within the larger body of his work.

Customer Reviews

Winslow Homer's amazing watercolors...after all these years, still an inspiration, 2008-10-24
by Cathy Johnson (Clay County, Missouri)
Hard to imagine a more inspiring watercolorist, historically or right now. Homer had a sure touch with his wonderful, calligraphic brushstrokes. He depicted life around him and makes it feel as real as the view out my own window--I'm there.

The book is beautifully produced, with many crisp illustrations to pore over. Even after well over 100 years, we still can learn contemporary techniques from this man.
wonderful, 2008-08-25
by Elizabeth Thompson
i love the book. It has many good prints. It's great for watercolorists to see how the master did it.
The Watercolors of Winslow Homer, 2007-09-22
by Nancy Umphres (Zapata, TX.)
As a very young child I would spent many hours looking through my grandmother's art library.Winslow Homer and the French impressionists were my favorites and that early experience is probably one of many reasons I became an artist. I bought this book as a gift for my sister who is also an artist. I was able to read most of it before I gave it to her but intend to get a copy for myself. I especially liked the way the book follows Mr. Homer's growth as an artist. It's well written and the collection of his work is incredible. There are so many paintings I have never seen and some I have only seen in black and white.
Beautiful Reproductions of Homer's WC, 2004-02-24
by Eric Holmes (Vancouver, Canada)
My first impression of this book was WOW!!! The size of the reproductions is astounding. Many extend over both large pages of the text. The binding is such that the book lies flat on the table and so the seam in the middle is negligble. THe colour of the reproductions is rich, detailed, and rings true (altho I have not seen any of Homer's work in real-life). Compared side-by-side with Cooper's book, Cooper's reproductions are much smaller and the colour appears weaker and washed out.

As for the text of the book, it is interesting, informative, and insightful. Altogether, this is a very well put together book; it is one of the finest books I have in my collection.

Beautiful pictures, overwritten text, 2002-03-12
by M. A Michaud (Dulles, VA United States)
To: Amazon.com

The hundreds of paintings reproduced in this large-format book deserve five stars. The publisher should be thanked for bringing together works scattered around a large number of museums, and for giving us a finely produced art book. Even fans of Winslow Homer will not have seen most of these paintings, which may represent the summit of American watercolors. Unfortunately, the accompanying text goes far beyond what is necessary to appreciate Homer's art. The descriptions of personal history and technique are helpful, but not the philosophical musings and overwrought interpretations. The text should have been cut by a third.