← Winslow Homer

Searchlight on Harbor Entrance, Santiago de Cuba

Original title: Searchlight on Harbor Entrance, Santiago de Cuba

Artist

Winslow Homer

Date

1902

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

30 1/2 x 50 1/2 in. (77.5 x 128.3 cm) Framed: 43 7/8 x 63 5/8 x 6 in. (111.4 x 161.6 x 15.2 cm)

Credit line

Gift of George A. Hearn, 1906

kurzbeschreibung

A cannon aimed at the harbor entrance dominates this night scene, which Winslow Homer painted in oil on canvas in 1902. The picture sits between seascape and military subject, with the gun as its still point.

Description

In the foreground a cannon stands on a platform, its barrel pointed out toward open water. Behind it rises a dark fortress wall with a small tower. The sea lies calm, barely touched by moonlight. Clouds drift across a bluish sky and deepen the somber mood. Other fortifications are hard to make out in the darkness. Muted blues, grays and browns set the palette, while the light picks out the gun and the wall.

Context

Painted in 1902, only a few years after the Spanish-American War, in which Santiago de Cuba held strategic importance. Homer stayed in Cuba several times and drew on those impressions for his pictures. A harbor with military fortifications points to the continuing presence of the military in the region.

Impact

The dark coloring and the calm sea create a quiet, almost threatening atmosphere. Because the cannon emerges lit from its shadowed surroundings, the eye is drawn to the military presence.

Technique

Oil on canvas, with visible brushstrokes and a thick, impastoed texture. Through muted tones and a reduced palette Homer simulates the effect of night lighting.

AI-generated description text

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)