A Basket of Clams
Winslow Homer American
Not on view
At Gloucester, Homer produced a series of watercolors focusing on the daily activities of local children, whether boating, helping with chores, or playing among the dunes and wharves. In A Basket of Clams, one of the earliest watercolors by the artist in The Met collection, Homer depicts two boys lugging their haul across the beach. The smaller figure appears to eye the dead shark ahead, while his older companion looks back, seemingly at the sailboat behind them. These two details—the shark and the ship—cast a shadow on an otherwise bright scene, subtly gesturing to threats the youth of this fishing village might someday face at sea.
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