The Herring Net

Winslow Homer painted The Herring Net in 1885, during his extended stay at Tynemouth, England, on the North Sea coast. He had been living in the fishing village of Cullercoats since 1881, painting the lives of the fishermen and their families. Two fishermen in a wooden boat haul in a net full of herring. The boat fills the lower half of the canvas, tilted slightly toward the viewer. One man stands at the left, pulling the net with both hands. The other sits at the right, leaning back against the weight of the catch. The net rises between them, a dark mesh against the grey sea. The sky is overcast, the water choppy. The figures are solid, their movements physical and precise. The canvas is roughly 30 by 48 inches, a horizontal format that emphasizes the expanse of the sea. Homer had been in Cullercoats since 1881, a two-year stay that transformed his work. Before England, he painted bright, anecdotal scenes of American leisure. After England, he painted the sea as a force, and the people who lived by it as figures shaped by that force. The Herring Net is one of the key paintings of this period. The fishermen are not romanticized. They are working, and the work is hard. Homer returned to America in 1883 and settled in Prouts Neck, Maine, where he would paint the seascapes that made him famous. The Herring Net was painted in his New York studio from studies made in England. It was exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1885 and bought by a Boston collector. Oil on canvas, 76.2 by 121.9 centimeters. Homer used a cool, grey palette with the figures rendered in dark, solid forms against the lighter water. The brushwork is controlled, with the net rendered in fine, precise marks. This painting works well in a living room, office, or coastal-themed interior. The 18x24 framed version in a black frame suits the somber palette. The horizontal format pairs well with wide walls. The painting is in the Art Institute of Chicago. This is a public domain artwork, sourced from Wikimedia Commons. We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 24x36 inches, framed or unframed. The image is printed at full resolution with no cropping.