A Fisherman's Daughter
Homer created some of the most luminous and influential watercolors in the history of the medium. A Fisherman’s Daughter, painted in Gloucester, Massachusetts, is among a group of works that represent his first sustained use of the medium. Here, three girls sit on the shore of a sunlit beach and play with a lobster. Their downcast eyes suggest a solemn tranquility to their activity. The life of the local fishermen was perilous; they often spent weeks away from home and were sometimes lost at sea. Thus, waiting was a central part of life for Gloucester families. An overturned boat on the dunes behind the figures evokes the ominous form of a coffin.
Colors in this work
Details
- Date
- 1873
- Dimensions
- sheet: height 0.242 m, width 0.329 m
- Origin
- America
- Department
- Drawings
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Palette
-
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- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Art Genome Taxonomy
11 tags
Subject Matter
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Figures in Nature Both · 99%
Three figures are seated outdoors among rocks, grasses, and shore vegetation; the catalog identifies them as three girls on a beach.
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Landscapes Both · 96%
The composition presents a developed coastal shore environment with beach, rocks, dunes, grasses, sky, and an overturned boat.
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Animals Both · 99%
A lobster is visibly held and examined by the figures, and the catalog explicitly describes the girls playing with a lobster.
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Scenes of Everyday Life Both · 92%
The image shows an informal activity on a beach rather than a formal or historical event; the catalog describes the girls’ activity as play.
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Mortality Interpretive · 94%
The museum describes the overturned boat as coffin-like and connects it with the peril, absence, and waiting experienced by Gloucester fishing families.
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Implied Narrative Interpretive · 87%
The figures’ lowered gazes and quiet attention, contrasted with the overturned boat behind them, create an implied narrative of ordinary play shadowed by absence or danger.
Visual Qualities
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Earth Tones Visual · 95%
Muted ochres, browns, tans, and greens dominate the beach, rocks, grasses, and boat, with subdued blue-gray sky and red clothing accents.
Medium and Techniques
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Watercolor Both · 99%
The catalog specifies watercolor and gouache over graphite, and the image visibly shows transparent washes, opaque highlights, and linear drawing marks.
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Work on Paper Both · 99%
The work is cataloged as a drawing on a sheet, and the image is visibly a work on paper.
Time Periods
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19th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The Cleveland Museum of Art dates the drawing to 1873, placing it in the nineteenth century.
Geographic Regions
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American Art Metadata · 99%
The artist is identified as Winslow Homer, American, and the place of origin is listed as America.
Source & rights
Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910). A Fisherman's Daughter. Cleveland Museum of Art.
High-resolution sources
- Original TIFF ↗ 5,000 × 3,701 · Cleveland Museum Of Art · Available