Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011204About the Artwork
Homer created some of the most luminous and influential watercolors in the history of the medium. A Fisherman’s Daughter, painted in Gloucester, Massachusetts, is among a group of works that represent his first sustained use of the medium. Here, three girls sit on the shore of a sunlit beach and play with a lobster. Their downcast eyes suggest a solemn tranquility to their activity. The life of the local fishermen was perilous; they often spent weeks away from home and were sometimes lost at sea. Thus, waiting was a central part of life for Gloucester families. An overturned boat on the dunes behind the figures evokes the ominous form of a coffin.
Inscriptions
Signed: "Winslow Homer" lower right; Remnants of signature, lower left: "W.H. June 1873"
Provenance
Edward M. Colie, East Orange, NJ Miss Margaret Colie, Mill Valley, CA (Macbeth Gallery, New York, NY) ?–1943: (Valentine Gallery, New York, NY), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH December 29, 1943–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Exhibition of Water Colors: Homer, Sargent, Marin. Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, CO (organizer) (April 17-June 11, 1947). The Work of Winslow Homer. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA (organizer) (February 1-28, 1951); Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA (March 1-April 1, 1951). Homer and the Sea. The Mariners' Museum and Park, Newport News, VA (September 27-October 19, 1964); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA (organizer) (October 30-November 29, 1964). Winslow Homer: Portrait of America. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 10, 1965-May 16, 1966). Water Colors by Winslow Homer. Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY (organizer) (July 8-August 28, 1966). Winslow Homer and the Critics: Forging a National Art in the 1870s. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO (organizer) (February 18-May 6, 2001); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (June 10-September 9, 2001). 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
- 1873
- Medium
- watercolor and gouache over graphite
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 24.2 x 32.9 cm (9 1/2 x 12 15/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Accession no.
- 1943.660
More by Winslow Homer in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00011204
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