Long Branch, New Jersey

Winslow Homer's Long Branch, New Jersey art in Boston, Massachusetts, captures the lives of people whose livelihood depended upon the sea, represented by well to do ladies descending the dunes in an old ocean avenue.

In the painting, Winslow featured two fashionably dressed women looking down the coastal village as the summer breeze blow freely, making their clothing to flap. They appear to have parasols at hand peering over the edge of the grass-topped sand bluff at the spread of the Atlantic below. Their dresses catch the high sun rays, and behind them are intermittent pagodas and strollers depicting a quiet, leisurely, and carefree atmosphere. The foreground is a prominent rock with oceans’ furry rushing over it, representing the site of human activities. There is also a group of idlers at a distance strolling on a sandy pathway.

He had great mastery in sketching and the use of water colorants, which helped him make rapid and excellent representations of nature. He translated the nature world experience onto a canvas using the bravura of his gestural brushwork. The artist regularly approached various subjects overlooked by other artists of his time with the passion for telling a story using an uncompromising realism style. He first made sketches with his sturdy craftsmanship then added a robust watercolor touch over graphite on thick paper to come up with realistic images.

Winslow's artistic inclinations were inspired by his mother, who was an amateur painter. He also had a great interest in nature and enjoyed representing naturalistic details in paintings. The artist was fascinated by the ocean and great outdoors, and he represented the American spirit with great freshness and vitality. He also had more significant concerns for the atmosphere and featured light added complexity to his images, which helped him achieve greater pictorial unity. Winslow enjoyed isolation and was inspired by privacy and silence to paint great themes.

The artist's other famous paintings include; on the beach in 1869, indicating wet sand and reflecting light from the sky and water. Also, the Peach color of 1878 features a young lady amongst the landscapes with a moody feel and dark clouds overhead. Other related works include the Fog warning, Breezing up, Moonlight, A wall Nassau, Fishing Boats, Key West, The gulf stream, A basket of clams, and Glass windows the Bahamas. He is also known for, Flower garden and Bungalow Bermuda, Waiting for Dad, The fog warning, The Herring Net, and Sailing the Catboat.