A 17th Century Dutch artist, born in Amsterdam, Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1634) specialized in winter landscapes.  His father Barent Avercamp was the town apothecary of Kempen.  Hendrick was deaf, and he may not have been able to speak. He was known as the Mute of Kampen. He suffered frequent illnesses. Winter landscape became his most popular subject, although he also could paint portraits, and his sketches sold well. He was probably taught to draw and paint by the Flemish artist Gilles Conixloo (1544-1607) and the Dutch artist David Vinckbooms (1576-1632).

“Winter Landscape with Skaters” (1608)

 “Winter Landscape with Skaters” (1608) (30’’x60’’) (Rijks Museum) (oil on wood panel) is thought to be one of the earliest paintings by Avercamp. He enjoyed skating on the winter ice with his parents. The setting is the town of Kampen, with homes, other buildings, and a church. The trees are leafless; the sky is almost as white as the ice, but people are out and about, some at work, while others enjoy games on the ice. Several small boats are ice bound. Kemper was a prosperous town because it was on the trade route between the Rhine River and the Zuiderzee.

The Dutch people were Protestants and the first to believe in education for everyone. They owned their homes and land, worked hard, and prospered. The clothing they wore indicated whether they were on the day at leisure or   working. Throughout the scene well-dressed men and women walk about in groups, engaging in conversation. Others skate or play colf, an early form of golf. A figure near the center of the painting has fallen on the ice. Several horse-drawn sleds provide rides. Typical of Avercamp’s painting, so much is happening.  At the lower left corner is a bird trap, a piece of wood held up by a stick. Tucked in the corner, a dog chews on a dead carcass. At the horizon, and hard to see, are the sails of a ship setting out to sea. The Dutch used landmarks and wind to aid navigation. 

“Winter Scene with Skaters Near a Castle” (1608)

“Winter Scene with Skaters Near a Castle” (1608) (16’’ in diameter) (National Gallery, London), another of Avercamp’s early paintings, depicts a castle as the focal point. Many of the same winter activities are depicted. There is a snowball fight going on at the left, as two young boys, one in a blue top and the other in orange, chase a young girl in the open area of the painting. Birds perch in the branches of the dead tree. 

The winter scenes are attributed to the Little Ice Age, a climate phenomenon that began in the 13th Century and ended in the early 18th Century. Winter came early and lasted well into spring. Heavy snows were frequent. Temperatures during the time of Avercamp’s paintings averaged well below zero.

“Winter Scene on a Canal” (1610)

Avercamp’s “Winter Scene on a Canal” (1610) (20”x36”) (Toledo Museum, Ohio) presents much the same array of people and events. The Toledo Museum closely examined the painting and produced the next three close-up images.

Winter Scene on a Canal” (1610) (detail 1)

In the foreground at the left, the elderly man with the white beard carries a basket. He is warmly wrapped from his head to his heavy pants and thick shoes. A rooster and two hens pick at the ice where feed has been thrown.

#5 Winter Scene on a Canal” (1610) (detail 2)

Along the foreground to the right, three men stand together. One is a fisherman with a net. He has used his axe to cut a hole in the ice. He holds a long spear to reach deep into the water to catch fish, and has a net to keep them in. He talks with a second man. A third man is carrying two baskets.  The two men likely came to buy fish from the first man. Just behind this group is a man colfing.

Winter Scene on a Canal” (1610) (detail 3)

Next to the group of fishermen are two couples in traditional Dutch black clothing. The men’s cloaks reach down to their knees, and the women’s cloaks reach to the ground. The men wear white ruff collars and tall black hats. The men wear wool bouffant knee breeches, both warm and comfortable. Leather boots or hose and shoes complete their attire. The attention of the black dog has been caught by a young lady whose image is found in the full scene.

“Winter Landscape with Flask Players” (1625)

“Winter Landscape with Flask Players” (1625) is a portrait of Averkamp and his brother Lambert as they compete hitting flasks. Both men have dark beards, but we may guess that the artist wears the colorful clothing.  Looking on is a well-known fisherman, in the red hat, and his son. The tools of their trade are the hatchet and a basket to carry the fish. The son carries the net to lift the fish from the water.

Several ships and boats are placed in the background. A consequence of the Little Ice Age, landmarks necessary to carry on trade became harder to find. Sailors’ journals record a sense of placelessness, at times unable to see or sense where they were, where they were going, or how to find home. Their English, French, and Danish rivals were all looking for a trade route to Asia. 

Avercamp’s paintings show the resilience of the Dutch to enjoy, survive, and thrive in difficult times. His paintings, although generally on one theme, were popular. He painted many and he prospered.

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown

Christmas traditions we cherish were established during Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901).  Others are as old as the ancient Roman Saturnalia celebration held on December 17, still others were traditions from the time of the Tudors. Decorating Christmas trees was one of the earliest and most important traditions.  Germans brought cut fir branches into the house for their wonderful scent. Queen Charlotte (1744-1818) of Germany, who married George the III of England in 1760, was known by 1800 to decorate fir branches in the Queen’s Lodge at Windsor. These decorations may or may not have been complete trees. The British public was not yet aware of this practice.

“Christmas with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert” (1848)

When Prince Albert of Germany married Victoria, he decorated a full tree. “Christmas with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert” (1848), was published in the Illustrated London News, and everyone emulated the Queen. By the end of the century, the Christmas tree had become one of the most important elements of the Christmas celebration. The wood-engraving by Joseph Lionel Williams is a depiction of Victoria and Albert standing by a table that holds a decorated tree and hand-made wood figures. Five of their girls look on with pleasure. The tree is decorated with lighted candles and hanging from it are highly decorated packages and an assortment of Christmas treats. The rich and the poor of England were able to decorate their trees with paper wrapped treats. 

“First Christmas Card” (1843)

The decoration of a Christmas tree was only one of the new elements added to the celebration of Christmas. Sir Henry Cole, the first director of the South Kensington Museum, was too late to write his usual Christmas letter, and he commissioned artist John Calcott Horsley (1817-1903), a member of the Royal Academy, to design somethings for him to send. “First Christmas Card” (1843) depicts a merry middle-class family raising a glass to toast everyone as they sit down to a sumptuous Christmas dinner. A wooden grape arbor frames this central scene. At one side a poor man and his family share a meal. At the opposite side, charity is shown to a woman holding her baby. The spirit of Christmas is shared by all. 

Sending Christmas cards became popular. Victoria encouraged her children to make cards, and poor children also began to make cards. Cole had1000 cards printed, and he sold those he did not send. The first illustrated newspaper was published by 1842, and the first printed books were available by 1863, among them was Dickens’s very popular A Christmas Carol. Advances in the printing industry included the ability to print hand-colored lithographs, and then machine-colored ones. The mass sprinting of wrapping paper, cards, books, and newspapers all became possible during the time. 

“Buying Mistletoe” (1850)

Mistletoe became popular in Victorian households by the 1870s. The green leaves and white berries were symbolic of fertility and romance. The berries represented male fertility. The Romans regarded mistletoe as symbolic of peace and love, and it was hung over doorways to protect the household. Druids and Celts also decorated with mistletoe since it was native to the British Isles and to Europe.  “Buying Mistletoe” (1850), a Victorian print, shows a middle-class woman and her daughter purchasing mistletoe from a girl in the woods. Mistletoe is a parasite that grows on the tops of trees and remains green and white throughout the winter months. Popular with the serving-class, mistletoe became popular because it was possible for any man to kiss a girl under it. If the girl refused, she would have bad luck in finding a husband the following year.

“Pulling Christmas Crackers”

Christmas Crackers were invented by Tom Smith sometime between 1845 and 1850. On a visit to Paris in 1840, he saw French bon bons made of sugared almonds wrapped in a paper twist. He brought the idea back to London. He made and tried to sell bon bons that included a message wrapped with the candy. They did not sell. As he sat by a fire, the idea came to add noise to the candy. He bought a recipe for fireworks that would make a small bang. He added a cardboard tube, a strip of paper treated with a small amount of gunpowder, a short sentiment, usually a joke, and some type of paper crown or hat. When both ends of the cracker were pulled, the strip of paper ignited the gun powder. He named them “Bangs of Expectation.” They delighted young and old. 

“By Royal Warrants Tom Smith’s Illustrated Catalogue of Christmas Novelties”

The Tom Smith company expanded its Christmas Novelties collection. It was appointed by the Queen in 1847 to be the official supplier of crackers and wrapping paper 

“Children Singing Christmas Carols” (1886)

The book Christmas Carols New and Old, by Henry Ramsden Bramley and Sir John Stainer, was published in 1871. “Children Singing Christmas Carols” (1886), a Christmas carol book for children, was published by Ward Lock and Company. Various artists illustrated the book. Victorian caroling originally was called wassailing, the word meaning be well and in good health. Carolers went about the town singing and receiving cups of wassail, a hot spicey drink, for their efforts. In later years, carolers received gifts they then distributed to the poor. 

Singing songs and dancing in a circle in Europe is thousands of years old. Saturnalia is just one of the origins. The word carole is French.  Carols were written for all four seasons. Christians in Rome sang them in Latin. The carols were not popular since most people did not understand the words. St Francis of Assisi wanted Christmas songs to be sung in native languages. He also introduced pageants. Christmas carols were first introduced to England in 1426 by a Shropshire chaplain. During the age of Cromwell and Puritanism, Christmas caroling was considered pagan, and the practice was outlawed. Caroling was revived in 1880, and new carols were written, such as “Good King Wenceslas,” “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” and “We Three Kings of Orient Are.”

WASSAIL!

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

A Christmas Carol (1843) (title page of first edition)

Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol was published by Chapman and Hall in London in1843. The first illustrator John Leech created four hand-colored etched plates and four black and white wood engravings. His first illustration was “Mr. Fezziwig’s Ball” from Ebenezer Scrooge’s early life when he was in love and happy. By Christmas Eve, the first edition of 6000 books had sold out. Two new editions were sold out by the New Year. The story has never been out of print. The celebration of Christmas grew in popularity, and the Victorians developed new traditions.

Leech’s etching, the first appearance of the Ghost of Christmas Past, shows the jolly and rotund Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig leading the dance. Fezziwig’s annual Christmas parties were famous. Known for his generosity and kindness, Fezziwig has provided a feast for all. A fiddler plays music from the balcony. Fezziwig’s elderly mother sits with some children and smiles at the joyous occasion. A young couple enjoy a kiss under the mistletoe. Holly hangs    from the ceiling. 

”Marley’s Ghost” (1843)

In “Marley’s Ghost” (1843), Scrooge’s former partner who has just died is an unexpected visitor on Christmas Eve. Dressed in his burial clothes, Marley drags chains and weights, the penance for his sins. Scrooge, in his nightclothes, sits near a small fire, eating a meager dinner. Only one candle lights the room. Leech has depicted the candle flame as a ghostly light. Marley warns Scrooge of the sins they both have committed in their business, and he forecasts the arrival of three spirits that will visit before Christmas Day. Scrooge must mend his cruel and miserly ways, or he will end up like Marley.

The Ghost of Christmas Present” (1843)

Leech draws upon the popular image of Father Christmas for “The Ghost of Christmas Present” (1843). He wears a dark green robe with white fur collar and sleeves. The room is filled with hanging greens. His torch and the fire provide light and warmth. His robe does not cover his chest, and his feet are bare. He wears a holly wreath decorated with mistletoe atop his curly brown hair. Around his throne are a rabbit, plum pudding, sausages, hams, and assorted other meats. He has a bowl of warm punch ready to share with Scrooge. He says to Scrooge, “Come in! Come in! and know me better, man.” He smiles, his eyes twinkle, and his voice is welcoming. 

This image is one of the most popular in the story. The Spirit introduced Scrooge to another world. They first visit a flourishing market, where the rich are purchasing provisions for their feasts. The Spirit then takes Scrooge to a poor man’s house, and then to the home of his nephew, Fred. Every year the kindly nephew invites Scrooge to the party, but he never attends. They visit the home of Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s poor clerk. Scrooge learns about tiny Tim and that he will not live long. The Ghost repeated Scrooge’s own words to him, “If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

“Ignorance and Want” (1843)

The theme of the woodcut “Ignorance and Want” (1843) was for Dickens a main element in A Christmas Carol. The Spirit shows Scrooge two starving, and poor children. Scrooge asks, “Spirit, are they yours?” “They are Man’s,” said the Spirit, looking down upon them. “And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!  Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And bide the end!” “Have they no refuge or resources?” cried Scrooge. “Are there no prisons?” said the Spirit, turning on Scrooge for the last time with his own words. “Are there no workhouses?”

Dickens was born into the middle class. His father was a spend-thrift. He squandered the family money and was committed to debtor’s prison. Dickens was forced to sell everything. His interest in the poor was established as a result, and he visited several locations where children were forced to work in intolerable conditions. He intended A Christmas Carol to send a moral message and to expose the dire circumstances created by the Industrial Revolution. He wrote letters, gave speeches, and fought to address the deplorable conditions of children in as many ways as he found possible.

“Bob Cratchit and tiny Tim” (1878)

Dickens enlisted artists to create additional images for the early publications of A Christmas Carol.  The black and white illustrations by Fred Barnard (1846-1896) are thought to be superior to the work by earlier artists. Barnard called himself the Charles Dickens among illustrators. “Bob Cratchit and tiny Tim” (1878) was another of the popular Dickens’s images. Bob Cratchit carried tiny Tim all over town, but particularly to church. His devotion to Tim was noted by everyone, young and old, rich and poor. A young boy with his dog delivers a large platter with the Christmas bird. A wealthy woman looks askance at the poor old woman. Her well-dressed daughter looks at an urchin who reaches out her hand. The young girl discretely hands the poor child a coin. The city of London is the backdrop. The distant clock tower resembles Big Ben.

“The Last of the Spirits, The Pointing Finger” (1843)

In Leech’s “The Last of the Spirits, The Pointing Finger” (1843), the Spirit 

of Christmas Present takes Scrooge to a graveyard. Scrooge implores, “Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point, answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or they the shadows of things that May be, only?” The Ghost points downward to the grave. Scrooge responds, “Men’s courses will fore-shadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they may lead. But if the courses be departed from, the end will change. Say it is thus with what you will show me!” Dickens wrote, “Scrooge crept toward it, trembling as he went, and followed the finger, read upon the stone of neglected grave his own name. EBENEZER SCROOGE 

“Cratchit and the Christmas Bowl” (1843)

Leech’s illustration “Cratchit and the Christmas Bowl” (1843) presents a changed Scrooge. He shares a drink with Bob Cratchit. Dicken’s text reads: “A merry Christmas, Bob! said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! I’ll raise your salary, and endeavor to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob! Make up the fires, and buy another coal-shuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit!” 

Have a Dickens of a Christmas

Note: Quotated material is drawn from Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. 

1 Samuel 7, during the end of the time of the judges, Israel experiences revival under the leadership of Samuel. The nation repents of their sin, destroys their idols, and begins to seek the Lord (1 Samuel 7:2–4). Samuel gathered the people at Mizpah where they confessed their sin, and Samuel offered a sacrifice on their behalf (verses 5–9). (1 Samuel 7:13–14). To commemorate the divine victory, “Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the LORD has helped us’” (verse 12). Ebenezer means “stone of help.” From then on, every time an Israelite saw the stone erected by Samuel, he would have a tangible reminder of the Lord’s power and protection. The “stone of help” marked the spot where the enemy had been routed and God’s promise to bless His repentant people had been honored. The Lord had helped them, all the way to Ebenezer.

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879) is a well-known American painter of jolly boatmen who transported furs and other cargo on rafts along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. He also painted several portraits. He is lesser-known as a politician and soldier. His political paintings convey his strong belief in Democracy with all its flaws and that slavery was immoral and a threat to the future of the Union.

He was born in Augusta County, Virginia. When the family lost their mill, they moved to Missouri. Bingham was educated by his mother. He was mostly a self-taught painter. By age nineteen he was painting portraits for $20; by age twenty-two he supported himself with his art. He opened his first studio in 1838 in St. Louis. He moved to Philadelphia to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art, but he remained there only for three months before moving to Washington, D.C., where he studied with Benjamin West and Thomas Sully from 1840 until1844. Bingham married his first wife, and they moved in 1845 to Arrow Rock, Saline County, Missouri. Their home is now a National Historic Landmark.

“Canvassing for a Vote” (1852)

Bingham became involved with politics as early as 1840, during the race for president between Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison. Over the next several years he painted six canvases in his “election series.” “Canvassing for a Vote” (1852) (25”x31”) (Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City, MO) is one of the earliest. In front of the Arrow Rock Tavern, in his hometown, Bingham poses five men, a sleeping dog, and a horse’s rump, all within a triangular composition. 

The candidate wearing a top hat, explains his position to the city gentleman with the cane, the country gentleman smoking his corn cob pipe, and the worker in the leather apron. The fifth man turns his back on the conversation; either he does not care, or he opposes the candidate’s thinking, or he could represent those who felt disenfranchised. These attitudes were prevalent at the time. Historians and art critics suggest that the sleeping dog may represent voters’ lack of enthusiasm, or the attitude toward the issue of slavery by the Missouri Legislation: “Let sleeping dogs lie.” One other idea has been proposed, that the approximate placement of the head of the candidate and the horse’s rump may represent Bingham’s estimation of politicians. Nevertheless, he knew the value of democracy, even with its flaws.  Bingham ran as a Whig for the Missouri House of Representatives in 1848. The initial count resulted in three votes in his favor. He lost the recount and suspected vote tampering. He ran in the following year and won by a large margin.

“Stump Speaking” (1853-54)

“Stump Speaking” (1853-54) (43”x58’’) is a depiction of a politician trying to persuade a group of Missouri citizens to vote for him. The three figures dressed in white form a wide triangle. They are Bingham’s key to the painting. The Stump Speaker represents the current issues to be decided, and he reaches out to the crowd. The Outstanding Citizen, as Bingham refers to him, wears a white suit and top hat, and he sits across from the Speaker. He leans forward, one hand on his hip, and listens to the Speaker. He represents the past, and he is rigid is his opposition. The future is represented by the young, bare footed boy in the white shirt. He sits at the front of the composition. Both hands in front of him, his finger points into the palm of the other hand as he counts some coins. 

The group of citizens includes men, women, and children of various ages and means. All are white. They surround the Speaker and sit or stand in natural positions. Bingham includes several portraits. The Stump Speaker resembles Erasmus Sappington, Bingham’s opponent in the previous election. The older, rotund figure wearing the green jacket resembles Meredith Marmaduke, the former governor of Missouri. The figure next to him is a self-portrait of Bingham, head down as he takes notes. 

“The County Election” (1852)

“The County Election” (1852) (38”x52”) was the first painting in Bingham’s election series. Male citizens of all ages gather at the polling place. The inscription “The Will of the People, The Supreme Law” on the blue banner represents the artist’s belief. The scene is set outdoors in the light of day so that everyone could witness the vote. At the top of the stairs, the man in the orange shirt swears on a Bible that this is his only vote. Behind him on the stairs, the man tipping his top hat may be offering a bribe to the next voter. At the bottom of the stairs to the left, another man in a top hat drags a limp man, possibly drunk, toward the stairs so that he can vote. At the far right a drunk sits hunched over, his head bandaged, perhaps suggesting that elections could result in violence.

Behind the drunk, two men read a newspaper The Missouri Republican. When Bingham made a print of the painting, he had the title changed to The National Intelligencer to appeal to a broader audience. At the left front of the work, a man sits and drinks beer. Votes bought by liquor were common in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Two boys play mumblety-peg with a knife. With splayed fingers, the boys stab between them as quickly as they can without cutting themselves.

“The Verdict of the People” (1854-55)

“The Verdict of the People” (1854-55) (46”x55”) was the last painting in Bingham’s election series. The crowd gathers in front of the courthouse to learn the election results. Bingham’s usual set of characters include farmers, laborers, politicians, and immigrants. However, he has included women and African American slaves. The African American pushing a wheelbarrow is prominently placed in the left foreground of the painting. The presence of women is not as obvious. White and African American women look on from a balcony at the top right. None has the right to vote.

“The Verdict of the People” is a depiction of two prominent issues in the 1854 election. Herman Humphrey’s book of 1828, Parallel between Intemperance and Slavery, explored the idea that alcohol and slavery were linked. The American Society of Temperance had been founded in1826, and the idea of abolishing alcohol was taking hold in several states by the 1850s. Bingham’s views were always anti-slavery; however, he considered abolishing alcohol to be wrong.

Bingham sent his election series to Washington, D.C., with the hope that the Library Committee of Congress would purchase the paintings. He wanted Americans to see his work and understand his ideas. The Library Committee of Congress did not purchase them. Bingham then lent them to the Mercantile Library Association in St. Louis, Missouri.

Abaham Lincoln was elected president in1861. Bingham was on the side of the Union during the Civil War; he fought and raised troops. The government of Missouri declared itself against slavery. The governor appointed Bingham to serve as Missouri State Treasurer in 1862. After the Civil War, Bingham was appointed President of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners. He became the first Chief of Police. He never stopped painting.

“To the beautiful belongs an endless variety. It is seen not only in symmetry and elegance of form, in youth and health, but is often quite as fully apparent in decrepit old age. It is found in the cottage of the peasant as well as the palace of kings.” (George Caleb Bingham)

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.

American artist Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was the son of Bostonians Charles and Henrietta Homer. She was an amateur watercolor painter and Winslow’s primary teacher. His youth was spent mostly in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he graduated from high school. His artistic talent was obvious. Apprenticed to a Boston commercial lithographer, he produced numerous sheet music covers and advertisements. He established a free-lance career by 1857 that resulted in an offer of employment from Harper’s Weekly. Instead, he opened his own studio in Boston.  He said, “I have no master, and never shall have any.”

He moved to New York City in 1859 and attended drawing school in Brooklyn. Harper’s Weekly commissioned him to draw images of the Civil War, and he was assigned to Major General George B. McClellan. Homer’s oil paintings of the Civil War invited him to membership in the National Academy of Design. He received full membership in 1865, including the exhibition of one of his Civil War paintings. The painting was also exhibited in the International Exhibition in Paris. Homer visited Europe in 1867, and he was able to observe the French Barbizon landscape paintings.

“A Fair Wind” (“Breezing Up”) (1876)

“A Fair Wind” (“Breezing Up”) (1876) (24”x38”) (National Gallery of Art) was exhibited during the American Centennial. After Homer returned to Gloucester, he began to paint American scenes of life along the Atlantic coast. Originally titled “A Fair Wind,” meaning smooth sailing ahead, the painting presented a positive, optimistic, and hopeful view of America’s future. The catboat, named the Gloucester, is steered by a young boy holding the tiller, rather than the older man in the boat. The boy steers toward the horizon, and the future. By adding the anchor, Homer further represents security and hope.

When “A Fair Wind” was shown at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, it was recognized as a positive expression of America’s future. Henry James, the writer, and Homer’s good friend, was critical of the painting: “We frankly confess that we detest his subjects…he has chosen the least pictorial range of scenery and civilization; he has resolutely treated them as if they were pictorial…and, to reward his audacity, he has incontestably succeeded. There is no picture in this exhibition, nor can we remember when there has been a picture in any exhibition, that can be named alongside this.”  The National Gallery of Art purchased the work in 1943, and “Breezing Up” became the commonly used title of the painting. The Gallery describes the painting on its web site as “one of the best-known and most beloved artistic images of life in nineteenth-century America.” The United States Postal Service issued in1962 a commemorative stamp to honor Homer with the image of “Breezing Up.”

“Clear Sailing” (1880)

By 1873 Homer had begun to use watercolor for sketches of subjects for finished oil paintings. “Clear Sailing” (1880) (8”x11”) (Philadelphia Museum of Art) is one of his pencil and watercolor sketches. In the summer of 1880, Homer lodged with the lighthouse keeper at Ten Pound Island, located in the middle of Gloucester Bay harbor. He observed the sailing ships, small boats, and all the activity associated with a busy harbor. Homer included a fully rigged ship in the distance. His view from the light house offered a closer look at ships and boats. Three young boys sit and stand on the beach and enjoy watching the scene.  A sea gull soars across the sky. 

“The Life Line” (1884)

“The Life Line” (1884) (29”x45’’) is a depiction of another side of life along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Homer and others who lived on the coast witnessed the dangers of ocean voyages. Immigrants, visitors, and cargo were at the mercy of the restless sea. Many stories of shipwrecks were reported in the newspapers. The wreck of the ship Atlantic in1873 that carried 962 people, resulted in the loss of 562 passengers and crew. Homer witnessed the newly invented breeches buoy system that was first employed in 1883 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to safely transfer people to shore.

In the painting the storm rages, the waves are intense, and a woman is held tightly in the breeches buoy by a strong male figure. The woman’s windblown red scarf centers the composition and provides a bold contrast to the treacherous dark green and white waves. “The Life Line” is a depiction of the American male hero saving the life of the helpless woman. This type of story was popular in the 19th Century. Homer painted this work after seeking out eyewitnesses and hearing their accounts of the events.

Homer had witnessed new life saving methods while he was in England, and he brought information about them to America. The United States was unique in organizing beach patrols and using new lifesaving techniques. The exploits of the new American heroes, the coast guards, were illustrated in several publications after 1878. “Life Line” was exhibited for the first time in 1884 at the National Academy of Design in New York, and the painting was immediately purchased for $2,500.

“The Gulf Stream” (1899)

Homer spent several summer vacations with fishing fleets in the Bahamas. He spent time near Florida, Cuba, and the Caribbean. He painted “The Gulf Stream” (1899) (28’’x49’’) (Metropolitan Museum) during his first trip to the Caribbean in 1885. “I painted in watercolors three months last winter at Nassau, & have now just commenced arranging a picture from some of the studies.” A boat, its mast broken, floats rudderless on the restless ocean. Homer wrote, “I have crossed the Gulf Stream ten times & I should know something about it.” A single negro lies on the deck, described by Homer as “dazed and parboiled…and the sharks have been blown out to sea by a hurricane.” 

Homer sent “The Gulf Stream” to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1900. He sent the painting to the National Academy of Design in 1906; the members of the academy jury wanted the Metropolitan Museum to purchase the painting. Newspaper reviews were positive and negative. One Philadelphia newspaper critic wrote that people were laughing at the “Smiling Sharks.” Another called attention to the “naked negro lying in a boat while a school of sharks [are] waltzing around him in the most ludicrous manner.” In response to concern expressed about the outcome of the story, Homer said, “You can tell these ladies that the unfortunate negro who now is so dazed & parboiled, will be rescued & returned to his friends and home, & ever after live happily.” The Metropolitan Museum purchased the painting that year.

“After the Hurricane” (1899)

“After the Hurricane” (1899) (15’’x21’’) (Art Institute of Chicago) was one of Homer’s finished watercolors. It is not clear if this work was painted before or after “The Gulf Stream,” but it depicts an event resulting from a hurricane. Whether the negro in the wrecked boat is dead or alive is not certain, but the devastation caused by the hurricane is evident.

On the weekend of November 1 and 2, 2024, Chestertown will celebrate Down Rigging and enjoy the glory of the tall ships docked in our harbor. 

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.