Inside the Bar

Inside the Bar

Winslow Homer

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

On large sheets of paper such as the one used for this work—produced on his return to the United States but depicting a North Sea fisherwoman—Homer perfected traditional English watercolor techniques, laying out compositions with broad, overlapping washes of color. Critically praised when it was exhibited in New York, Inside the Bar is seen as a benchmark of the ambitious turn in Homer’s art, foregrounding heroicized figures engaged in dramatic action. Viewers were particularly taken with the power of the woman, positioned between two boats bearing men: “This woman is not made of the stuff that is swept away. . . . She is transformed by the terrible beauty of the time and place; her stride is magnificent; she is part of the storm itself."

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.