Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Margo Pollins Schab, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1995
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
Winslow Homer
(American, 1836–1910)
Perils of the Sea
1888
Etching printed in brownish black ink on cream wove paper
Image: 13 11/16 x 20 3/16 in. (34.8 x 51.3 cm)
Plate: 16 1/2 x 21 3/4 in. (41.9 x 55.2 cm)
Sheet: 20 3/4 x 24 in. (52.7 x 61.0 cm)
Plate: 16 1/2 x 21 3/4 in. (41.9 x 55.2 cm)
Sheet: 20 3/4 x 24 in. (52.7 x 61.0 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1995.38
SignedIn graphite, lower right margin: Winslow Homer N.A-; imprinted within image, lower right: HOMER
InterpretationIn Winslow Homer's etching Perils of the Sea, two women, their covered heads and shoulders somewhat protected from gusts of wind and stormy weather, stand on a breakwater and gaze out at a rough sea. They await fishing boats that have not yet returned home. Behind them a crowd of fishermen and sailors, wearing the mariners' hats known as sou'westers, gather on the beach to form a search-and-rescue crew near the life brigade house, a structure for storing rescue equipment. The image celebrates those who wait on shore with commingled emotions of hope, anxious uncertainty, and fear of losing a loved one to the dangerous sea.
Homer based this etching on a watercolor of the same title (1881, Sterling and Francine Clark Museum, Williamstown, Massachusetts) that he made seven years earlier during his extended stay in Cullercoats, a hardy English fishing village on the North Sea. Its harbor, the source of village livelihood, was the focus of daily life in fair weather and foul. The title of both watercolor and etching, which underscores the community's precarious dependence on the sea, derives from the Anglican hymn "Eternal Father, Strong to Save," with words written by Englishman William Whiting in 1860; its refrain implores: "O hear us when we cry to Thee/for those in peril on the sea." Like Homer's etching The Life Line (TF 1996.8), this work portrays the sea as a site of elemental challenge to human courage, a theme the artist explored repeatedly in the work of his last three decades.
By modulating the density of a fine web of etched lines, Homer varied the nuances of tones in the final version of this print, in which the image is in reverse of the original watercolor; he carefully modeled the figures and building set between the bands of overcast sky and the solid ground. Homer indicated the turbulent surf with only a few lines, leaving the sparsely inked white paper as a large body of eerie white representing the sea. The etching plate from which Perils of the Sea was printed is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Homer based this etching on a watercolor of the same title (1881, Sterling and Francine Clark Museum, Williamstown, Massachusetts) that he made seven years earlier during his extended stay in Cullercoats, a hardy English fishing village on the North Sea. Its harbor, the source of village livelihood, was the focus of daily life in fair weather and foul. The title of both watercolor and etching, which underscores the community's precarious dependence on the sea, derives from the Anglican hymn "Eternal Father, Strong to Save," with words written by Englishman William Whiting in 1860; its refrain implores: "O hear us when we cry to Thee/for those in peril on the sea." Like Homer's etching The Life Line (TF 1996.8), this work portrays the sea as a site of elemental challenge to human courage, a theme the artist explored repeatedly in the work of his last three decades.
By modulating the density of a fine web of etched lines, Homer varied the nuances of tones in the final version of this print, in which the image is in reverse of the original watercolor; he carefully modeled the figures and building set between the bands of overcast sky and the solid ground. Homer indicated the turbulent surf with only a few lines, leaving the sparsely inked white paper as a large body of eerie white representing the sea. The etching plate from which Perils of the Sea was printed is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Margo Pollins Schab, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1995
Exhibition History
Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900 (Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2000. [exh. cat.]
(Re)Presenting Women, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 16, 2001–January 13, 2002.
A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003.
Winslow Homer: Poet of the Sea, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London England, Musée d'Art Américain Givery, Giverny, France and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venues: Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, England, February 22–May 21, 2006; Musée d' Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France, June 18– September 24, 2006. [exh. cat.]
(Re)Presenting Women, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 16, 2001–January 13, 2002.
A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003.
Winslow Homer: Poet of the Sea, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London England, Musée d'Art Américain Givery, Giverny, France and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venues: Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, England, February 22–May 21, 2006; Musée d' Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France, June 18– September 24, 2006. [exh. cat.]
Goodrich, Lloyd. The Graphic Art of Winslow Homer. (exh. cat., Museum of Graphic Art, New York). Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institute Press, 1968. No. 98, p. 34.
Howe, Katherine S., ed. Winslow Homer Graphics: From the Mavis P. and Mary Wilson Kelsey Collection of Winslow Homer Graphics. Houston, Texas: The Museum of Fine Arts, 1977. E8.
Master Prints of Five Centuries, The Alan and Marianne Schwartz Collection. (exh. cat., The Detroit Institute of Arts). Detroit, Michigan: The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1990. Cat. no. 42, pp. 70–71.
Cikovsky, Jr., Nicolai and Franklin Kelly. Winslow Homer. (exh. cat., National Gallery of Art). Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1995. Nos. 117, 122, pp. 208–211 (reference to print and watercolor).
Cartwright, Derrick R. Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text p. 27 (checklist) [specific reference to Terra print].
Cartwright, Derrick R. Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text p. 27 (checklist) [specific reference to Terra print].
Lévy, Sophie, ed. Winslow Homer: Poet of the Sea. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny and the Dulwich Picture Gallery). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2006. Text pp. 76, 142, 145, Ill., p. 89 (color).
Athens, Elizabeth, Brandon Ruud with Martha Tedeschi. Coming Away: Winslow Homer & England. (exh. cat. Worcester Art Museum and Milwaukee Art Museum). Worcester, Massachussetts: Worcester Art Museum; Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Milwaukee Art Museum; New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2017. Text, p. 166 (checklist), cat. no. 54; ill., p. 136 (color).
Howe, Katherine S., ed. Winslow Homer Graphics: From the Mavis P. and Mary Wilson Kelsey Collection of Winslow Homer Graphics. Houston, Texas: The Museum of Fine Arts, 1977. E8.
Master Prints of Five Centuries, The Alan and Marianne Schwartz Collection. (exh. cat., The Detroit Institute of Arts). Detroit, Michigan: The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1990. Cat. no. 42, pp. 70–71.
Cikovsky, Jr., Nicolai and Franklin Kelly. Winslow Homer. (exh. cat., National Gallery of Art). Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1995. Nos. 117, 122, pp. 208–211 (reference to print and watercolor).
Cartwright, Derrick R. Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text p. 27 (checklist) [specific reference to Terra print].
Cartwright, Derrick R. Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2000. Text p. 27 (checklist) [specific reference to Terra print].
Lévy, Sophie, ed. Winslow Homer: Poet of the Sea. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny and the Dulwich Picture Gallery). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2006. Text pp. 76, 142, 145, Ill., p. 89 (color).
Athens, Elizabeth, Brandon Ruud with Martha Tedeschi. Coming Away: Winslow Homer & England. (exh. cat. Worcester Art Museum and Milwaukee Art Museum). Worcester, Massachussetts: Worcester Art Museum; Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Milwaukee Art Museum; New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2017. Text, p. 166 (checklist), cat. no. 54; ill., p. 136 (color).