The Water Fan
Winslow Homer (American, 1836-1910)1898/99
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
Shipping & returns
Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
The Water Fan depicts a young black man intently searching for coral using a glass-bottomed bucket. Referred to as a “water glass” or “sponge glass,” this device was used to stabilize the surface of moving water in order to improve visibility. Homer may have been attracted to the subject because it draws attention to the constantly moving surface of the water as well as its transparency, aspects of the sea that especially intrigued him in the Bahamas. Like The Sponge Diver (1898/99; MFA Boston), this work originally had more visible red washes in the water, hinting at the pink coral beneath the surface. While these areas have faded, the fluid strokes of darker blue over layers of transparent turquoise are effective in suggesting the play of light, both direct and reflected, over water.
Homer depicted light shimmering on the ocean using watercolor paper with a heavy twill texture in The Water Fan. The diagonal pattern of the sheet, which runs from top right to lower left, was imparted during manufacture by the papermaker’s woven wire screen that supported the paper pulp during sheet formation. The opposite side is relatively smooth. A truncated watermark reading “J WHAT,” for J Whatman, the manufacturer, reads from the textured side, indicating the side intended for painting.
- Medium
- Watercolor, with blotting and touches of scraping, over graphite, on thick, rough twill-textured, ivory wove paper
- Original size
- 37.4 × 53.4 cm (14 3/4 × 21 1/16 in.)
Museum record · 1 owner · 5 exhibitions
Provenance
- The artist to James W. Young, Chicago, 1907; sold by J.W. Young Galleries, Chicago, to William (1854–1923) and Mary (Mrs. William) Holabird, c. 1908; by descent to their son, John A. Holabird (1886–1945); by descent to his wife, Dorothy (1897–1988); given to the Art Institute, 1972.
Exhibitions
- Chicago, J.W. Young Galleries, "Ten Watercolors by Winslow Homer," opened January 11, 1908, no cat. Tucson, Ariz., The University of Arizona Art Gallery, "Yankee Painter: A Retrospective Exhibition of Oils, Water Colors, and Graphics by Winslow Homer," October 1–December 1, 1963 and 84.
- New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, "Winslow Homer," April 3–June 3, 1973, cat. by Lloyd Goodrich; also traveled to the Los Angeles County Museum, July 1–August 15, 1973; and The Art Institute of Chicago, September 8–October 21, 1973.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, "Great Drawings in The Art Institute of Chicago: The Harold Joachim Years 1958–83," July 27–September 22, 1985, cat. by Martha Tedeschi.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, "Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light," February 16-May 11, 2008, 180, 181, 185, 211, cat. by Martha Tedeschi and Kristi Dahm.
- Philadelphia Museum of Art, "American Watercolor in the Age of Homer and Sargent", February 23 - May 14, 2017, cat. by Kathleen A. Foster.
