Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00010981Leaping Trout
About the Artwork
In 1886, Winslow Homer began to produce oil paintings and watercolors of subjects in the Adirondack Mountains, where he and his brother Charles had fished and hunted since the 1870s. In Leaping Trout, a silvery trout propels itself from the water in pursuit of a hapless insect or a fisherman’s fly. Homer’s choice to adopt the fish’s perspective, rather than a fisherman’s, is quite unconventional and heightens the drama and immediacy of the scene. His technique, influenced by the free brushwork of French Impressionism, similarly animates his still-life subject. Luminous washes of transparent blue and grey watercolor suggest the fish’s iridescent skin, while opaque pricks of bright red on its body lend a decorative effect reminiscent of Japanese prints. On the water’s surface, Homer uses scraping to create two brilliant white highlights, and dry brushing to produce the impression of a reflective surface. Although the overall effect is mysterious and dreamlike, the color and movement of the fish is carefully studied, suggesting Homer’s desire to appeal to the sportsmen who might buy his works.
Inscriptions
signed, lower right, in black watercolor: Homer '89
Provenance
c. 1925: (F.W. Bayley & Son, Boston, MA.) 2/10/1925-5/21/1925: (Macbeth Gallery, New York, New York, sold to Ralph T. King, Sr. on 5/21/1925.) 1925-?: Mr. and Mrs. Ralph T. King, Cleveland, OH. After 1937-1973: Anonymous donor, purchased from the Ralph T. King, Sr. Collection. 1973-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, gift of anonymous donor.
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1973. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 30-March 17, 1974). Winslow Homer Watercolors. Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX (June 6-July 27, 1986); Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (September 11-November 2, 1986). Winslow Homer. National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (organizer) (October 15, 1995-January 28, 1996); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA (February 21-May 26, 1996); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (June 20-September 22, 1996). Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002). Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (February 16-May 11, 2008). Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 9-June 8, 2014).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910)
- Date
- 1889
- Medium
- watercolor over graphite
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 35 x 50.6 cm (13 3/4 x 19 15/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Anonymous Gift
- Accession no.
- 1973.142
More by Winslow Homer in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00010981
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