Fishin'

Winslow Homer

Oil on canvas

Rhode Island School of Design Museum

This intimate and luminous painting depicts two children — a girl and a boy from the Babcock family — casting their fishing lines at Houghton Farm in Mountainville, New York, their rose, blue, and yellow garments catching streaks of dappled sunlight along their slender poles. Painted during Homer's landmark summer of 1879, the work reflects his mastery of capturing fleeting effects of light and his deep engagement with the theme of rural American childhood in the post-Civil War era. Winslow Homer (1836–1910), largely self-taught and initially known as a Harper's Weekly illustrator, became one of the most celebrated American painters of the 19th century, achieving a critical breakthrough with his Houghton Farm watercolors and oils. Now held in the collection of the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, this small yet commanding painting is a testament to Homer's belief that scenes of ordinary American life, rendered with honest observation and vibrant color, possessed the highest pictorial dignity.