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Diamond Shoal

Winslow Homer American
1905
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
Homer’s last known watercolor is a dynamic exploration of one of his most enduring subjects—the perils and power of the sea. It depicts a boat near the Diamond Shoal lightship, a vessel equipped with beacons to aid navigation in dangerous waters off the coast of North Carolina, at the junction of the Gulf Stream and the Labrador Current. Feared by sailors as the "graveyard of the Atlantic," it was an apt subject for Homer given his fascination with oceanic danger; he was likely familiar with the area owing to his winter trips from Maine to Florida. Urgently confronting the treacherous gale, the sailboat seems to head straight for the artist-viewer, creating a suspenseful scene of conflict that merges a dramatic narrative with breathtaking artistry.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Diamond Shoal
  • Artist: Winslow Homer (American, Boston, Massachusetts 1836–1910 Prouts Neck, Maine)
  • Date: 1905
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Watercolor and graphite on paper
  • Dimensions: 13 7/8 x 21 ¾ in (35.5 x 55.2 cm)
    Framed: 26 x 33 7/8 x 3 in. (66 x 86 x 7.6 cm)
  • Credit Line: Private collection
  • Rights and Reproduction: Photography by Laura Wulf
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing