Fly Fishing, Saranac Lake - Winslow Homer

Print and Drawing Fund; William McCallin McKee Memorial and John H. Wrenn Memorial endowments; Mr. and Mrs. T. Stanton Armour Fund; Sara R. Shorey, Suzanne Lord Folds, Stanley Field, John Brooks Fair, Robert M. Chase, Albert H. Wolf, Mary S. Adams, Joseph Ryerson, Helen Davis Baily, Everett D. Graff, Henry M. Huxley, Claudia S. Cassell and Hannan Fund endowments; Robert & Leah Hamman, Alan Rutenberg, Mr. & Mrs. Phil Heller, Marjorie Glaser and Herbert Molner discretionary funds

American Art Drawings Modern Art Prints

"Fly Fishing, Saranac Lake" by Winslow Homer (1889) Etching and aquatint with lavis, stopping-out, scraping, and burnishing, on moderately thick, smooth, cream simulated Japanese vellum.

Commentary

"Fly Fishing, Saranac Lake" by Winslow Homer (1889) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. The print-based method rewards close viewing, where line, texture, and contrast do most of the expressive work. Themes to notice inc lude etching. This piece is held in the source collection's Prints and Drawings collection. Winslow Homer is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: Winslow Homer American, 1835-1910. The work is cataloged within a United States cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as etching, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Etching and aquatint with lavis, stopping-out, scraping, and burnishing, on moderately thick, smooth, cream simulated Japanese vellum) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (Image: 35.8 × 51.8 cm (14 1/8 × 20 7/16 in.); Plate: 44 × 56.5 cm (17 3/8 × 22 1/4 in.); Sheet: 50.5 × 70 cm (19 15/16 × 27 9/16 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include etching. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/189219

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data