Winslow Homer (1836–1910)
5 Winslow Homer Rd, Scarborough, ME 04074
207-775-6148
ABOUT
In 2006, the PMA purchased the property and embarked on a six-year renovation project restoring the building to how it appeared during Homer’s life and, in 2012, opened its doors to the public for the first time.
Winslow Homer Studio Tours put you uniquely in touch with Maine’s artistic heritage, allowing you to walk the floors and balconies where Homer once walked, and to be inspired by the place that inspired one of America’s greatest painters. With its combination of cultural resonance, historical significance, and natural beauty, Winslow Homer Studio Tours offer a singular experience that you will remember for years to come and want to share with others.
Take a Winslow Homer Studio Tour and discover why this location is so crucial to our understanding of Winslow Homer, American art, and Maine.
SPECIAL RESOURCES
“Things are looking very beautiful here today – I had my place covered with seaweed last winter & now it is raked off just before this rain. It is as green as Central Park.”
— In a letter from Winslow Homer to his brother Charles
Winslow Homer (1836–1910)
Born in 1836, Winslow Homer’s artistic career began first as a commercial printmaker, and then a freelance illustrator working in New York City for popular magazines such as Harper’s Weekly. He quickly came to national attention for his images of modern American life, particularly of Civil War subjects. Producing commercial illustrations until 1875, he increasingly concentrated on oil painting and watercolor, receiving critical acclaim as one of the nation’s most original artists for his depictions of contemporary life as well as his perceptive realism.
In 1884, Homer moved to Prouts Neck, a coastal community in southern Maine where he lived until his death in 1910. There, his art changed dramatically in theme and mood, often featuring richly textured, monumental seascapes with little or no human presence. These pictures influenced generations of artists, transformed marine painting in the United States, and continue to be considered among the greatest masterpieces of American art.
LEARN MORE
Widely regarded as one of the greatest American artists of the 19th century, Winslow Homer (1836-1910) holds deep and influential ties to both Maine and the Portland Museum of Art. Indeed, the PMA is the “home” of Homer in several important regards: the museum has significant holdings of his works—watercolors, prints, and oil paintings—spanning his entire career, and it also operates the Winslow Homer Studio, a landmark building perched on the rocky coast of Maine where the artist resided from 1884 until his death.
Born in Boston, Homer began his artistic career in the late 1850s with an apprenticeship in a Boston lithography shop and then as a freelance illustrator working in New York City for popular magazines such as Harper’s Weekly. He quickly came to national attention for closely observed and perceptive images of modern American life, particularly his Civil War subjects that explore the experiences of rank-and-file soldiers in the Union army and the broader social impact of the sectional conflict. While continuing to produce commercial illustrations until 1875, Homer increasingly concentrated his efforts on oil painting and watercolor. His paintings of contemporary life—including images of the Civil War, rural children, fashionable women, and modern leisure pursuits (such as croquet, hiking, and hunting)—as well as his richly textured realism earned Homer critical acclaim as one of the nation’s most progressive and original artists.
In 1884, shortly after returning from an 18-month sojourn in the English fishing village of Cullercoats where he painted the daily lives of local fishermen and women, Homer moved from New York City to Prouts Neck, a small peninsula about 12 miles south of Portland. Inspired by the raw beauty of the Maine coast, Homer’s art changed dramatically in theme and mood. He created monumental marine seascapes that investigate humankind’s life-and-death struggles against the sea and the elemental power of nature. Painted with vigorous brushwork and closely observed realism, these late paintings capture the titanic force of waves crashing against the rocky shore in varying seasons and climactic conditions. Homer’s Maine pictures influenced generations of artists and transformed marine painting in the United States. Highly acclaimed during his lifetime, they continue to be considered among the greatest masterpieces of American art.
IN COLLABORATION WITH THE NATIONAL TRUST
Preservation Magazine
From Winslow Homer to Georgia O’Keeffe: Inside Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios