Meeting the New Century: Winslow Homer's Drawing after Northeaster

摘要

In 1900, Winslow Homer responded to a request from the editor of the Boston periodical The Congregationalist, John C. Van Dyke, a well-known art critic, who wished to use Homer's 1895 oil painting Northeaster to illustrate an article on "A Century's Progress in Art." Refusing to send the painting to an engraver to be reproduced, Homer made a drawing after the original instead. His willingness to trouble himself with this request in the middle of winter at Prout's Neck, Maine, suggests Homer saw the charcoal sketch as serving strategic ends. Through publication in Van Dyke's piece in the January 1901 issue of The Congregationalist, Homer could indicate his own artistic "progress" and currency, and also promote the marketing of the original oil.