BREEZING UP

By WINSLOW HOMER

Facts on Homer Winslow

• Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1836• an American landscape painter and printmaker, best

known for his marine subjects. • He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th-

century America and a preeminent figure in American art.

• Largely self-taught, Homer began his career working as a commercial illustrator.

• He subsequently took up oil painting and in watercolor, primarily chronicling his working vacations.

Continued

• Visited and lived different places, including England, France and the super exotic state of Virginia.

• Painted depictions of the American Civil War, Reconstruction and what happened to the slaves after they were freed.

• Died 1910 in Maine.

Facts on “Breezing Up”

• Began canvas in 1873 after a visit to Glocester, Massachusetts

• Scanning technology showed that he made many changes to the painting before he settled on this scene

• Mood in boat is relaxed even though there are choppy waves

• Anchor symbolizes hope

Continued

• The boy holding the tiller looks forward to the horizon, a statement of optimism about his future and that of the young United States.

• Today, Breezing Up is considered an iconic American painting, and among Homer's finest.

• The National Gallery of Art purchased the work in 1943, described by the institution's web site as "one of the best-known and most beloved artistic images of life in nineteenth-century America.