Fishing Boats, Key West
By Winslow Homer, 1904
Painted in 1904, this lively watercolor captures a quiet moment among fishing boats in the harbor at Key West, Florida. A boat named "Lizzie" sits at the center, its crew busy at work while a splash of bright red catches the eye against the cool blues and whites. Winslow Homer spent his later years traveling to warm places like Florida and the Caribbean, and he loved painting the sea and the people who made their living from it. You can almost feel the humid air and the gentle rocking of the water here.
Homer was one of America's greatest watercolor painters, and works like this show why. Notice how loose and free the brushwork feels, with the clouds and water suggested rather than spelled out in detail. He worked quickly and confidently, letting the white of the paper stand in for sunlight bouncing off the waves and the sails. By this point in his career, Homer had mastered the art of saying a lot with very little, and this scene feels both effortless and alive.