# The Gulf Stream

**Winslow Homer** (American, 1836–1910)  
1899; reworked by 1906  
Oil on canvas  
28 1/8 x 49 1/8 in. (71.4 x 124.8 cm) Framed: 42 5/16 x 62 11/16 x 5 7/8 in. (107.5 x 159.3 x 15 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 06.1234. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11122).

## 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._

Winslow Homer painted this in 1899; reworked by 1906, aged about 63. It is now at The Met in New York.

### 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](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: Painting
- Culture: American
- The artist was about 63
- Real size: about 28 × 49 in (71 × 125 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 18 × 24 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: Men, Fish, Seas, Waves, Boats
- Colour: black
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/832.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/832/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 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/the-gulf-stream-met-11122).