Life-Size Black Bass - Winslow Homer

Bequest of Brooks McCormick

American Art Modern Art Paintings Prints

"Life-Size Black Bass" by Winslow Homer (1904) Transparent watercolor, with touches of opaque watercolor, rewetting, blotting and scraping, over graphite, on thick, moderately textured (twill texture on verso), ivory wove paper (left, right and lower edges trimmed).

Commentary

"Life-Size Black Bass" by Winslow Homer (1904) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. Its painted surface guides your eye through color, brushwork, and contrast rather than through narrative alone. Themes to notice include pri nts and drawing. 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, 1836-1910. The work is cataloged within a United States cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as prints and drawing, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Transparent watercolor, with touches of opaque watercolor, rewetting, blotting and scraping, over graphite, on thick, moderately textured (twill texture on verso), ivory wove paper (left, right and lower edges trimmed)) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (35 × 52.6 cm (13 13/16 × 20 3/4 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include prints and drawing. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/189152

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