Winslow Homer Exhibition Records

Winslow Homer was an American landscape painter and illustrator, born on February 24, 1836 in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were Charles Savage Homer and Henrietta Benson Homer. His mother was also a painter and among the first of his art instructors. Early in his career Homer was an illustrator, contributing works of Boston and rural New England life to magazines, like Ballou’s Pictorial and Harper’s Weekly. This lasted around 20 years.

In 1859, Homer opened a studio in New York City, and attended classes at the National Academy of Design until 1863. He also studied for a short time with Frédéric Rondel, a French landscape painter. Before exhibiting his work at the academy, Winslow travelled to Paris, France where he stayed for a year to informally practice landscape painting. Much of his muse came from everyday life, depicting rural landscapes, families, women, and children. He also drew inspiration from travels to Key West, Florida and where he lived in childhood, and his adult life, painting New England and maritime landscapes. Homer died September 29, 1910, at his home, in Prouts Neck, Maine.