Northeaster

Winslow Homer

Oil on canvas

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Northeaster captures the raw, elemental drama of a winter storm at Prouts Neck, Maine, where colossal waves crash and explode against the rocky coastline in a breathtaking display of nature's power. Painted in rich blues, grays, and whites with virtuoso brushwork, the composition immerses viewers in the look, feel, and almost audible sound of onrushing and receding water — a canvas that practically vibrates with energy. Winslow Homer (1836–1910), regarded by many as the greatest American painter of the nineteenth century, began his career as a Civil War correspondent for Harper's Weekly before retreating to the solitary coast of Maine, where his art reached its fullest expression. This masterwork now resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and stands as one of the most celebrated American seascapes ever painted, prized for its depth of feeling and hints of modernist abstraction.