Skip to Content
Closed today, next open Thursday. Closed today, next open Thursday.

The Herring Net

Painting of two fishermen in small wooden boat on rocky seas.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

Image actions

  • Painting of two fishermen in small wooden boat on rocky seas.

Date:

1885

Artist:

Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910)

About this artwork

In 1883 Winslow Homer moved to the small coastal village of Prouts Neck, Maine, where he created a series of paintings of the sea unparalleled in American art. Long inspired by the subject, Homer had spent summers visiting New England fishing villages during the 1870s, and in 1881–82 he made a trip to a fishing community in Cullercoats, England, that fundamentally changed his work and his life. The paintings he created after 1882 focus almost exclusively on humankind’s age-old contest with nature. Here Homer depicted the heroic efforts of fishermen at their daily work, hauling in an abundant catch of herring. In a small dory, two figures loom large against the mist on the horizon, through which the sails of the mother schooners are dimly visible. While one fisherman hauls in the netted and glistening herring, the other unloads the catch. Utilizing the teamwork so necessary for survival, both strive to steady the precarious boat as it rides the incoming swells. Homer’s isolation of these two figures underscores the monumentality of their task: the elemental struggle against a sea that both nurtures and deprives.

Status

On View, Gallery 171

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

Winslow Homer

Title

The Herring Net

Place

New England (Place depicted)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1885

Medium

Oil on canvas

Inscriptions

Signed recto, lower right, in pigment: "Homer 85".

Dimensions

76.5 × 122.9 cm (30 1/8 × 48 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection

Reference Number

1937.1039

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/25865/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share