Fishing Boats, Key West

Winslow Homer’s "Fishing Boats, Key West" (1903) is a brilliant late-career watercolor that captures the intense sunlight and vibrant atmosphere of the Florida Keys.

This work exemplifies Homer's mastery of the medium and his late-career focus on tropical subjects after his visits to the Caribbean and Florida. The composition is dynamic, featuring several fishing smacks or boats bobbing on the clear, turquoise water. Homer uses bright, clean washes to convey the dazzling light and the remarkable transparency of the southern sea.

Unlike his rugged, somber Maine seascapes, this painting is a celebration of color, warmth, and ease. While the boats are clearly working vessels, the mood is one of quiet tranquility and tropical beauty. It is a visual record of Homer's enduring interest in marine subjects, interpreted here through a palette and light that emphasize the exotic, vibrant contrast of the Southern environment against his familiar, colder New England scenes.