WINSLOW HOMER (1836-1910)
$275,000
Provenance
(possibly with) Wm. A. Butters & Co., Chicago, Homer sale, December 10, 1879James H. Dole, Chicago, by 1881
George S. Dole, Galesburg, IL, son of the above, 1902
Mrs. George S. Dole, Galesburg, IL (later Minneapolis), 1934
John J. Foley, Minneapolis, probably the son-in-law of Mrs. George S. Dole
Kennedy Galleries, New York, 1963
Madison H. Lewis, New York, 1963
Elizabeth Sanford Lewis (Mrs. Madison H. Lewis, later Mrs. W. Leicester Van Leer), New York, by bequest, by 1980
Christie’s, December 6,...More... 1991, sale 7380, no. 44
Debra Force Fine Art, Inc., by 1999
Private Collection, Florida
Private Collection, Boston
Private Collection
Exhibition
Chicago, Illinois, Wm. A. Butters & Co., Original Watercolor and Charcoal Sketches from Nature by Winslow Homer, December 1879Chicago, Illinois, Inter-State Industrial Exposition of Chicago, Ninth Annual Exhibition, September 7 - October 22, 1881, no. 211 (as The Walk)
Chicago, Illinois, Inter-State Industrial Exposition of Chicago, Twelfth Annual Exhibition, September 3 - October 18, 1884, no. 432 (as Blossoms)
Chicago, Illinois, Inter-State Industrial Exposition of Chicago, Fifteenth Annual Exhibition, September 7 - October 23, 1887, no. 489 (as Blossoms)
Chicago, Illinois, Inter-State Industrial Exposition of Chicago, Eighteenth Annual Exhibition, September 3 - October 18, 1890, no. 408 (as Under the Apple Tree)
Literature
Lloyd Goodrich and Abigail Booth Gerdts, Record of Works by Winslow Homer, Volume III: 1877 through March 1881, New York, 2005, p. 258, no. 850 (illustrated)...LESS...
This watercolor is included in the artists catalogue raisonne and relates closely to other early examples from Houghton Farm, including Fresh Air from 1878 in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum. Its serene orchard scene, rendered with a soft and muted palette, reflects the themes of nostalgia, calm, and peace that define Homer's Restoration period. The transparency of the watercolor medium allows Homer to create a delicate, atmospheric impression of a misty morning, animated by touches of bright color in the figures dress patterns, the bow on a hat, a headwrap, and the bluebird perched on a branch.
The continued importance of Homer's watercolor practice is affirmed by the current exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Of Light and Air: Winslow Homer in Watercolor, which underscores the enduring resonance of works from this transformative period. Houghton Farms (Girls Strolling in an Orchard) stands as a beautifully preserved example from the moment when Homer embraced watercolor as his primary mode of expression, illuminating the quiet lyricism that came to define his mature art.

