Flower Garden and Bungalow, Bermuda - Winslow Homer (1899)

Bermuda Winslow

Watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Painted during Winslow Homer's six-week winter sojourn in Bermuda in 1899–1900, this watercolor depicts a typical island bungalow set within a lush tropical garden. Homer rendered the structure's distinctive stepped white limestone roof—used traditionally for collecting rainwater—alongside vibrantly colored walls, a border of bright flowers, verdant palms, and a sparkling sky. The work exemplifies Homer's mature watercolor practice: at once spontaneous in appearance yet carefully composed, capturing the sensory richness of the tropical environment with assured, luminous handling. Homer (1836–1910), born in Boston and trained as an illustrator before becoming one of America's foremost painters, brought to these late Caribbean and Atlantic island subjects the same intensity of observation he had applied throughout his career to the sea and landscape.