Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light (Art Institute of Chicago) (Hardcover)

by Martha Tedeschi (Author), Kristi Dahm (Author), Judith Walsh (Contributor), Karen Huang (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Beginning as a lithographer's apprentice, iconic American painter Winslow Homer (1836-1910) learned the basics of drawing and etching without ever receiving a serious artistic education, developing his skill through practical experience and intense observation. As editor and Art Institute of Chicago curator Tedeschi relates, the artist was obsessed with the ability to depict light properly in its limitless incarnations. Though he was accomplished in a variety of mediums, Homer found watercolors to be the most efficient for what Tedeschi calls "his dedicated examination of the relationship between color, light, and water." Besides reproducing a stunning array of Homer's watercolor paintings, the text offers highly specific description of the artist's process and materials, articulating the different uses of opaque and transparent watercolors and varying paper textures in a technical but reader-friendly manner. Though critics agree that Homer's attention to light and color are entirely his own, the text is also thorough in examining Homer's influences, from Impressionism to the English Aesthetic Movement, as well as his conceptual ties to his contemporary, Walt Whitman. The result is a superior read for those seeking an introduction to the medium of watercolors or an exploration of Homer's work. 275 color illustrations.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description
American painter Winslow Homer (1836-1910) created some of the most breathtaking and influential watercolours in the history of the medium. This handsome volume provides a comprehensive look at Homer's technical and artistic practice as a watercolourist, and at the experiences that shaped his remarkable development. Focusing on 25 rarely seen watercolours from the Art Institute's collection, along with 75 other related watercolours, gouaches, drawings, and paintings - including many of the artist's characteristic subjects - this book proposes a new understanding of Homer's techniques as they evolved over his career.Accessibly written essays consider each of the featured works in detail, examining the relationship between monochrome drawing and watercolour and the artist's lifelong interest in new optical and colour theories. In particular, they show how his sojourn in England, where he encountered leading British marine watercolourists and the dynamic avant-garde art scene, precipitated an abrupt change in technique and subject matter upon his return home. Conservators address the fragility of these watercolours, which are prone to fading due to light exposure, and demonstrate, through pioneering research on Homer's pigments and computer-assisted imaging, how the works have changed over time. Several of Homer's greatest watercolours are digitally 'restored', providing an exhilarating glimpse of the original impact of Homer's groundbreaking colour experiments.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 228 pages
• Publisher: Art Institute of Chicago (February 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300119453
• ISBN-13: 978-0300119459
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #96,839 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #3 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Artists, A-Z > ( G-I ) > Homer, Winslow
  #55 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Painting > Watercolor

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars treat your eyes and mind to something beautiful on a dreary winter day, February 13, 2008

By	Museum Goer (Chicago, USA) - See all my reviews

I was browsing through the book store at the Art Institute of Chicago and was attracted to a new book that accompanies an upcoming exhibition at the museum. The beautiful cover of the book invited me to pick it up and open it. I know a little about Winslow Homer, but did not appreciate his accomplishments with watercolors until I flipped through this book. The staff at the book store must have thought I was a little nutty as I spent nearly an hour studying the gorgeous artwork and rich information about the artist, his times, and watercolor technique. The most interesting part is how the authors uncovered, just like CSI, how the artist created the pieces and what the watercolors originally looked like. I feel a little guilty buying the book from Amazon and not the Institute's store, but the museum will probably still benefit. This book is perfect for anyone whether you are an artist, a scientist, a lover or art, or just want to treat your eyes and mind to something beautiful on a dreary winter day. I am looking forward to returning to the museum and walking through the exhibition, which opens on February 16th.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous book with beautiful color images and technical details, June 18, 2008

By	Joyce H. Stoner - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an invaluable book on Winslow Homer's watercolors with superb color photographs and technical details.
TEDESCHI, MARTHA; DAHM, KRISTI; WALSH, JUDITH; and HUANG, KAREN.

Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light

The Art Institute of Chicago, Yale University Press, New Haven and London2008

978-0-300-11945-9

228 pages, index of technical terms, extensive references and bibliography, copiously illustrated with excellent color plates.

This catalogue accompanied an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in spring 2008. Technical information about Winslow Homer's watercolor technique is woven throughout the entire text. Homer's career in watercolors is carefully traced beginning with his self-taught, trial-and-error early watercolors. He began using watercolor as an independent medium in 1873. His method was often to paint quickly in the open air or to develop a watercolor from a careful pencil study. He seems to have informed himself by reading treatises on the medium. Favoring papers of moderate texture, he opted for opaque watercolor at first but sometimes combined transparent washes and opaque passages. He usually began by laying out the central motif with graphite lines. Technical variety was established early and would endure throughout his career. Homer's "Bible" was Chevreul on Colors.

By the early 1870s Homer was an accomplished draftsman. To achieve brightness and opacity he used zinc white watercolor, mixing it with and layering it under transparent watercolor. By 1878 he carried out some works entirely in transparent watercolor. For "Weary" he selected an off-white, medium-thick sheet with a rough, twill texture and used a dry brush method for sunlight hitting the tree trunk. In the fall of 1880 he dedicated himself to painting in transparent watercolor and appropriated a new range of transparent pigments including three blues: Antwerp, indigo, and Prussian. A chart is provided of his pigments from 1878 to 1903.

Many of his watercolors were on Whatman paper, handmade from linen fibers and infused with gelatin size. This size sometimes attracted mold which appeared in scattered spots of foxing. The Whatman paper was bound in a solid block with a gumlike adhesive and gauze on four sides. His brown laid papers, containing red and blue fibers were made by the French manufacturer "Saint Mars." Among the remains of Homer's studio materials are two Winsor and Newton "Japanned tin boxes" containing moist watercolor cakes. They contained glycerin, a wetting agent that retains moisture and causes the immediate release of color when touched with a rough brush. Two of his watercolor brushes are pictured; they are made from sable bristles set into a swan quill that was stripped of its feathers.

Homer sometimes transferred designs using carbon paper. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals the artist's use of madder lake; in "Two Boys Watching Schooners" of 1880, the madder lake was used over the figures and rocks to convey the sun's warmth. He sometimes used blotting to create atmospheric textures or would wet, blot, and scrape areas. Scraped passages are recognized when viewed at an angle; the broken and disrupted paper fibers in these areas have a softer look than the uninterrupted surface. Homer sometimes used sandpaper to abrade both pigment and paper to reveal the white substrate below; this method created a speckled texture, taking away pigment only from the highest points of the rough paper while leaving it in the surrounding interstices. Occasionally, Homer abandoned his brushes and tools and manipulated watercolors directly with his fingers. Other techniques discussed include applying broad flat washes for sky and water, painting wet-on-wet to create atmospheric effects, spattering to produce the effect of salt and humidity hanging in the air, tamping the brush to construct thin wispy tops of pine trees, using a knife to create white highlights, and using a resist, possibly of white lead, a drying oil, and a resin, to block off areas. Alterations were sometimes made by scraping. Infrared images of the graphite underdrawings may reveal significant changes in composition. Homer sometimes cropped the works; the trimmed edges appear slightly uneven and lack the adhesive residue from the watercolor drawing block.

Homer would sometimes place tracing paper over a watercolor, outline the main elements with a soft graphite pencil, and place the tracing face down onto a copper plate to transfer the image for an etching. Some of the red lake pigments in Homer watercolors have faded. The original color may be preserved where it was covered by a window mat or frame rabbet edge.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have book, April 20, 2008

By	Monika Griff "artist/student" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After seeing someone else's copy I immediately bought my own. Not only is it interesting for anyone who appreciates Homer's watercolors, but it shares methods, techniques and helpful hints used by him for many types of effects and in some cases to cover mistakes. A must have for watercolorists. My instructor is considering giving a class using this book as a basis.