A Wall, Nassau

Winslow Homer came up with a watercolor painting while on a trip to the Bahamas, A Wall Nassau, that depicts a sunny day in Nassau with the vibrant hues. The bottom half of the painting portrays a white wall that has loose grey, blue, and red depictions.

On the left side, there is an entrance with two columns decorated with darker pyramid elements. The wall bottom illustrates pure ground with crafty indications of green grass, while the upper part is distinguished with specs of dull pigments. At the backside, Homer inserted a thin tree with bright red leaves that pop from the light blue sky in the background. He also included other trees with the shade of purple-brown and green to complement the colorful art. From a distance, he used dark blue lines to mark the sea.

Techniques Used

The artist divided his work into halves with a horizontal line to create an excellent balance throughout his art, by setting up interesting dynamic tensions and a great sense of movement. He also used dull colors on the wall and harmonized them perfectly with the intense red hue in the flowers above. Also, he created a resolute shape at the bottom light corner to draw attention to the middle ground. He portrayed dapped light on the wall intended to cleverly and yet precisely lead the eye across the wall toward the center while the sky and foliage lead the eye from left to right. The leaves above the thick wall seem to connect to the main areas of the painting.

Homer used a high-quality paper with smooth surfaces together with graphite and water colorant to deliver a vivid image with an exceptional resolution. With the high degree of detail and smooth transition of the color gradients, A Wall Nassau art appears more realistic. The artist shifted from the impressionistic style of artwork to producing real-life images in this one painting. He also revolutionized impacts upon water colorant techniques with natural techniques and unparalleled depicted veils of the atmosphere. His paintings aim at challenging the viewer with unobvious images through his direct execution of the medium and his extraordinary control to achieve an unlabored look.

His Inspiration

Winslow Homer was highly motivated by sunny and tropical landscapes and some seascapes which amounted to great works. He was passionate about nature and enjoyed portraying what he saw in a beautiful combination of watercolor paints. He is also known for his direct interpretation of man’s relationship with the wilderness.