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Shore and Surf, Nassau

Winslow Homer American
1899
Not on view
On Homer’s second trip to the Bahamas, in the winter of 1898–99, he demonstrated a growing interest in tropical weather, notably storms and hurricanes. As in Palm Tree, Nassau (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 10.228.6), the artist here envisions a tempest building on the horizon of a richly textured seascape, accentuating the bright passage of foam-flecked azure surf with darker zones of shore and sky. A red pennant is visible at far left, behind a white coral lighthouse. This specialty hurricane flag replaced the Union Jack in times of inclement weather, alerting passing ships of rough seas. Through this subtle detail, Homer draws attention to the distant steamer’s vulnerability in open water.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Shore and Surf, Nassau
  • Artist: Winslow Homer (American, Boston, Massachusetts 1836–1910 Prouts Neck, Maine)
  • Date: 1899
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper
  • Dimensions: 14 15/16 x 21 3/8 in. (37.9 x 54.3 cm)
    Framed: 24 1/2 x 30 1/2 in. (62.2 x 77.5 cm)
  • Credit Line: Amelia B. Lazarus Fund, 1910
  • Object Number: 10.228.5
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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Annie Lawrie (Sheet music cover), Winslow Homer American, Lithograph
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Sunday Morning in Virginia – From the Painting by Winslow Homer in the National Academy of Design (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. XXIV), Winslow Homer American, Wood engraving
Sunday Morning in Virginia – From the Painting by Winslow Homer in the National Academy of Design (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. XXIV)
Winslow Homer
May 22, 1880
A Quiet Day in the Country (from "Appleton's Journal," Vol. III), Winslow Homer American, Wood engraving
A Quiet Day in the Country (from "Appleton's Journal," Vol. III)
Winslow Homer
D. Appleton & Co.
June 6, 1870
George Blake's Letter (The Galaxy, An Illustrated Magazine of Entertaining Reading, Vol. IX), Winslow Homer American, Wood engraving
George Blake's Letter (The Galaxy, An Illustrated Magazine of Entertaining Reading, Vol. IX)
Winslow Homer
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"I Cannot! It Would Be a Sin! A Fearful Sin!" (The Galaxy, An Illustrated Magazine of Entertaining Reading, Vol. VI), Winslow Homer American, Wood engraving
"I Cannot! It Would Be a Sin! A Fearful Sin!" (The Galaxy, An Illustrated Magazine of Entertaining Reading, Vol. VI)
Winslow Homer
September 1868

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Winslow Homer - Shore and Surf, Nassau - American - The Metropolitan Museum of Art