# Inside the Bar

**Winslow Homer** (American, 1836–1910)  
1883  
Watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper  
16 x 29 in. (40.6 x 73.7 cm) Framed: 28 1/2 x 41 3/8 in. (72.4 x 105.1 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 54.183. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11125).

## About this work

A fisherwoman stands braced against the wind on the shore, while boats struggle to cross the sandbar beyond and storm clouds gather. Winslow Homer made the watercolour in 1883, drawing on the year and a half he had spent in the fishing village of Cullercoats on England’s North Sea coast, where he was moved by the hard lives and anxious waiting of fishermen’s families. The experience transformed his art, turning it towards the sea and the struggle between people and nature.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Winslow Homer painted this in 1883, aged 47. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Watercolour.** Pigment in gum arabic, thinned with water and laid in transparent washes. Nothing white is painted: the light is the paper showing through.
- **Graphite.** Pencil. Graphite has been used for drawing since the 1500s; in 1795 Nicolas-Jacques Conté mixed it with clay, so its hardness could be graded.

### [Winslow Homer](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/winslow-homer)

American, 1836–1910; born in Boston, Massachusetts; died in Prouts Neck, Maine

Homer began as an illustrator, covering the Civil War for Harper’s Weekly, and first made his name in painting with scenes of soldiers and country life. A stay at the fishing village of Cullercoats on the English coast in 1881–82 turned him towards the sea, and from 1883 he lived at Prouts Neck, Maine, painting the Atlantic in all weathers. He was also a fluent watercolourist in the Adirondacks, Canada and the Caribbean, and The Gulf Stream draws on those southern journeys.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Watercolor
- Culture: American
- The artist was 47
- Real size: about 16 × 29 in (41 × 74 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 12 × 16 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Realism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/realism)
- Subjects: Women, Boats
- Colour: grey
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/833.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/833/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/inside-the-bar-met-11125).