From The Fog Warning to The Blue Boat, Winslow Homer’s watercolor paintings are some of the most iconic and instantly recognizable pieces of American art. But because of the fragile, light-sensitive nature of the medium, watercolors can be displayed for only a few months at a time and require years-long “rest” periods to properly preserve them.
Now for the first time in decades, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is displaying a collection of almost 50 watercolors by Winslow Homer in the new exhibition, “Of Light and Air: Winslow Homer in Watercolor.” It’s the first time in nearly half a century that the collection is on view together, says the exhibition’s cocurator, Christina Michelon, the Pamela and Peter Voss Curator of Prints & Drawings at the MFA, which houses the world’s largest collection of Homer’s watercolors.
The Dinner Horn, about 1870, Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910), Oil on panel, Gift of Mrs. Charles Sumner Bird (Julia Appleton Bird), Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
“This is really a really special opportunity for visitors to see these works that, 90 percent of the time, we have to keep away from light and safely in storage,” Michelon says. “That’s the reason why they still look as incredible as they do. Some of them are still as fresh as the day Homer finished them because they’ve been cared for by the MFA for a century in some cases.”…