The Gulf Stream1899; reworked by 1906
A lone Black sailor lies on the deck of a dismasted, rudderless boat in the open sea, surrounded by circling sharks, while a waterspout churns on the horizon and a distant ship sails by, apparently unaware of him. More about this work
About this work
A lone Black sailor lies on the deck of a dismasted, rudderless boat in the open sea, surrounded by circling sharks, while a waterspout churns on the horizon and a distant ship sails by, apparently unaware of him. Winslow Homer based the picture on sketches from trips to the Bahamas and Florida, and when viewers pressed him to say what would happen next, he replied tersely that the sailor would be rescued. Painted in 1899 and reworked by 1906, it is one of his most powerful images of human endurance against nature.
Written by Ochre Editions.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
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.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Met has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 06.1234
- Credit
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- The American Wing
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
