Guides Carrying a Canoe
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.This watercolor dates from Homer’s last fishing trip to the rugged and remote landscape around Canada’s Saguenay River, which the artist had been visiting with his brother Charles for nearly ten years. Seemingly more peaceful in its focus than Homer’s other Quebec watercolors, the quiet scene depicts two guides transporting an empty canoe in the foreground—the one at right fragmented and nearly subsumed by the landscape—alongside three sketchily defined figures in a canoe near the shore.
Homer had long admired the nature guides and made them the subjects of paintings throughout his career. Late in his life, they became more critical as they allowed the aging artist and his brother to continue making their excursions.
Homer had long admired the nature guides and made them the subjects of paintings throughout his career. Late in his life, they became more critical as they allowed the aging artist and his brother to continue making their excursions.
Artwork Details
- Title: Guides Carrying a Canoe
- Artist: Winslow Homer (American, Boston, Massachusetts 1836–1910 Prouts Neck, Maine)
- Date: 1902
- Culture: American
- Medium: Watercolor on paper
- Dimensions: 10 1/4 × 20 1/2 in. (26 × 52.1 cm)
- Credit Line: Private collection
- Rights and Reproduction: Private collection
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing