“The Woodcutter”
“The Woodcutter” is a striking watercolor and graphite on paper painting by the American realism artist, Winslow Homer, from 1891.
During this period, Homer was staying with a patron in Mountainville in Orange County, New York, and created a slew of paintings during his stay, including this piece. Most of his paintings were painted in plein-air. He found the immediacy and expediency of the watercolors a valuable medium to create quick works of art. His subjects were pastoral and included the rural occupants and activities of nineteenth century American life.
In this piece, Homer depicts a lone woodcutter standing on the edge of an overview looking at the landscape below. The man is holding an axe with his right hand, the head of the axe resting on the ground. His dark form is silhouetted against the bright sky, immediately drawing the viewer’s eyes to the solitary figure.
During Homer’s early career, he worked mostly in oil paints, wood etchings, and lithography. In 1873, he started experimenting with watercolors as a medium and immediately mastered the difficult medium. Watercolor paintings had only recently become a respectable medium, bolstered by the creation of the American Water Color Society in 1866. By the time of his death in 1910, he was the top watercolorist in the country. His technique was essentially to draw the forms with pencil and then fill them in with layers of watercolor paint washes.
As a self-taught artist, Homer’s works were independent from the artistic conventions of the day. His works are both a classic representation of American life in the nineteenth century as well as the relationship between humans with primal nature.
“The Woodcutter” is currently in the private collection estate of the art collector, Fayez S. Sarofim.
For more on Winslow Homer, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
