International studio (34.1908)

INTERNATIONAL
STUDIO
VOL. XXXIV. No. 136 Copyright, 1908, by John Lane Company JUNE, 1908

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INSLOW HOMER
BY LEILA MECHLIN

To praise that which none con-
demns might justly be pronounced
idle effort, but the fact that there is to-day one
painter at least whose work is universally ap-
plauded is in itself well worth recording. An art
writer, eight years ago, ventured the opinion that if
at that time the artists of the United States were
called upon to declare who in their estimation was
the greatest living distinctly American painter the
majority would cast their votes for Winslow Homer,
and with little doubt this would be equally true to-
day.
It was, indeed, Mr. Homer’s colleagues—men
who were themselves painters of no small distinc-
tion—who not only recommended but urged the
purchase of his painting, “The Gulf Stream,” by
the Metropolitan Museum when in 1906 it was
shown in the National Academy of Design’s winter
exhibition. And this in spite of the fact that in his
method of rendering Mr. Homer outrages the
strongest convictions of perhaps nine-tenths of the
present-day painters. There is none who, from the
technical standpoint, commonly paints more hate-
fully than he, and yet at the same time none who,
as a rule, produces greater pictures. He has some-
thing to say, and he says it without circumlocution
or affectation, but apparently the mode of delivery
does not concern him beyond the point of sincerity
and truth. Strength, vigor, force and action ap-
peal to him rather than mere beauty—art to him is
a means, not an end. His pictures are different
from other men’s pictures without necessarily being
better or worse. To come across one in a current
exhibition is a refreshment, such as turning from a
printed page, no matter how interesting, to an open
window, though they concern themselves little with
the illusion of light and atmosphere. But the
critic is obliged to discard his cherished vocabulary,

for the set phrases which are commonly applicable
cease to have significance, as completely as though
the subject under consideration were a bit of the
outdoor world, a piece of nature’s painting. It
would, in fact, be almost as senseless to talk of the
artistic manner in which the birds rendered their
songs as to discover in Mr. Homer’s method any
aesthetic intention. The truth is, he has never
learned to love painting—he does it because it is
necessary to expression.
Born in Boston, February 24, 1836, Winslow
Homer spent his boyhood in Cambridge, which was
then a country village, and found chief delight in
outdoor sports, such as hunting and fishing. Wheth-
er or not he ever made up his mind to become an
artist or had dreams of fame and achievement is not
known and does not signify, but that he had an apti-
tude for drawing is quite certain, for when at nine-
teen he entered the employ of a lithographer he was
able, we are told, to undertake immediately the
most difficult part of the work—making title-pages
for sheet music, and portraits. After two years
he began magazine illustrating, and setting up for
himself made drawings for Ballou's Monthly and
the Harper Brothers. In 1859 he went to New
\Y)rk and took a studio in Nassau Street, living
farther up town. Gradually he became acquainted
with his fellow-workmen, and when in 1861 he
moved, it was to the old University Building, where
several of the other artists had already located. It
was about this time that he determined to learn to
paint, and for a month took lessons of Rondel, a
Boston man, who had a studio in the old Dodworth
Building near Grace Church. From him, it is said,
he learned to set his palette and handle his brush,
which was sufficient to embolden him to procure an
outfit and go into the country to paint. Before
then, to be sure, young Homer had been a member
of the night class at the school of the National
Academy of Design, and by illustrating had earned
his own living, but this seems to define the extent of

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