Did you know this seemingly innocent beach scene shocked art critics in 1870?
Winslow Homer painted these three women just after a refreshing swim at a Massachusetts beach. One wrings out her heavy, wet bathing clothes while a tiny dog looks on, completely startled by the dripping water.
While it looks like an ordinary summer day to us, this painting was wildly daring for its time. Critics called the figures ungainly and were genuinely scandalized by their perceived state of undress. Yet beneath the controversy, there is a wonderfully mysterious quietness to the scene. The women sit close together but seem completely lost in their own thoughts, bathed in a harsh light th...