Object Image

Breezing Up (A Fair Wind)

Homer developed a penchant for forceful realism early in his career. Following an apprenticeship in a Boston lithography shop, he supported himself as a freelance illustrator, creating a wide variety of popular images that subsequently were published as wood engravings in national periodicals like Harper's Weekly. During the early 1860s, his themes ranged from stylish seaside–resort life to the horrors of the battlefield. Following an extended trip to Europe in 1866–1867, Homer adopted a warmer palette, a looser brush technique, and an interest in painting outdoor scenes that owed much to the influence of contemporary French artists such as Courbet, Manet, and Monet.

Upon his return to the Uni...

1873-1876
Oil on canvas
61.5 x 97.0cm
1943.13.1
Image and text © National Gallery of Art, 2020

Where you'll find this

National Gallery of Art
Permanent collection

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