Winslow Homer: American Passage

by William R. Cross

The definitive life of the painter who forged American identity visually, in art and illustration, with an impact comparable to that of Walt Whitman and Mark Twain in poetry and prose―yet whose own story has remained largely untold.

In 1860, at the age of twenty-four, Winslow Homer (1836–1910) sold Harper’s Weekly two dozen wood engravings, carved into boxwood blocks and transferred to metal plates to stamp on paper. One was a scene that Homer saw on a visit to Boston, his hometown. His illustration shows a crowd of abolitionists on the brink of eviction from a church; at their front is Frederick Douglass, declaring “the freedom of all mankind.”

Homer, born into the Panic of 1837 and raised in the years before the Civil War, came of age in a nation in crisis. He created multivalent visual tales, both quintessentially American and quietly replete with narrative for and about people of all races and ages. Whether using pencil, watercolor, or, most famously, oil, Homer addressed the hopes and fears of his fellow Americans and invited his viewers into stories embedded with universal, timeless questions of purpose and meaning.

Like his contemporaries Twain and Whitman, Homer captured the landscape of a rapidly changing country with an artist’s probing insight. His tale is one of America in all its complexity and contradiction, as he evolved and adapted to the restless spirit of invention transforming his world. In Winslow American Passage , William R. Cross reveals the man behind the art. It is the surprising story of a life led on the front lines of history. In that life, this Everyman made archetypal images of American culture, endowed with a force of moral urgency through which they speak to all people today.

Includes Color Images and Maps

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography, History, Biography Memoir, Art History

560 pages, Hardcover

Published April 12, 2022

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Although I have always admired Homer's paintings, I didn't know much about his life or the details of his career as a painter of water colors and oils. He was intensely private and wrote barely anything about his paintings, thinking that they should speak for themselves--and they do. But Cross helps us see everything that Homer was saying about his times, the places where he lived or spent a lot of time, and the lives of ordinary people during everyday and momentous occasions through his paintings. We come to understand how his art was shaped by what was happening in the world and his reaction to these events. We also learn about the art market and how Homer's was finally able to make a living from his art. There is only one drawback to this book: it is very very heavy--because of the numerous illustrations and the high quality paper it is printed on. Reading it will give you both a mental workout and stronger arms.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surely this must be the definitive biography of the great American painter. Cross's research and grasp of detail are amazing, and yet he has produced a book which is very readable. I'm not knowledgeable enough to judge Cross's critiques of Homer's paintings, nor to evaluate whether his assessments of Homer's view of life and art are accurate, but I'm willing to give them full credit given
Cross's erudition and his grasp of the details Homer's life story. The book is beautifully produced on glossy paper for the benefit of the many reproductions of Homer's pictures. My only complaint is that because the book is small (i.e. normal 6 x 9 1/2), one simply can't see the details of the pictures, which is very frustrating. I suppose the editors had to decide whether they were going to treat the book as a biography or a coffee table book, and this was their choice. True, a coffee table book would have weighed 15 pounds instead of 5, and cost $ 150 instead of $ 50, but what a gem it would have been!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who's right?
Picasso: "Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies."
Art critic William Downes: "So straight does" Homer's depictions of his subjects "go to the mark, one is not aware there is any such thing as style. Art conceals art. It's as easy as lying - but it never lies."
Cross insists that Homer would have agreed with Picasso. But perhaps the observations are not mutually exclusive.

In any case, Cross gives us a fascinating view of an extraordinarily talented and quintessentially American artist. Blissfully free of any speculation about how Homer's inner/personal life - a lifelong bachelor whose sexual preferences and/or potential angsts - may or may not have influenced his work, Cross' analysis rather sticks to the pictures: their structures, their colors and their subjects. And that analysis -- whether it invloves issues of the human condition, race, nature or other matters-- is clear, provocative and convincing.

[Albert Jaeger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive (550 pages) biography of the American painter Winslow Homer. It’s also a masterful biography, with Cross very much on top of his material. Finally, the biography complements nicely the Metropolitan Museum’s Winslow Homer exhibition (on view April-July 2022; with plenty of information about the exhibition on YouTube).

The book’s interpretation of Homer as a painter is inevitably shaped by today’s Zeitgeist, highlighting in particular Homer as a compassionate observer and artistic summarizer of the black experience in the post civil war era.

The quality of the book’s paper, print, and binding are superb; as a result, however, it’s not cheap.

One nigggle: Despite more than 250 colored illustrations, a stupendous amount of detailed footnotes, and pages of illustration credits, it is often left to the reader to figure out where Homer’s works are physically located.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a intensely researched book that focuses on Homer's body of work. I loved that the book included in-text photos of most of the described artworks. The publisher also included maps to show the areas Homer visited in his frequent sojourns, and I found this helpful. All the graphics combine to make the book a much shorter read than the page count suggests.

Some minor annoyances: The author all too often pointed out the vertical center line of many paintings as if he recently taken an art history 101 class and wanted to show off his newly learned metric, and he included the birth and death dates of every person mentioned despite the not very academic style of writing. But the most glaring flaw of this book is that for all I learned about Homer's art techniques, I don't feel like I got too much insight into him as a human being for a biography. It does seem like Homer was intensely private, so there may not be a lot of archival materials to give insight to him as a man, but I feel like the author failed to personalize this iconic artist, and that's what I was seeking from this book.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biography of Winslow Homer includes extensive commentary on his art, and the book is helpfully illustrated with many of his works. Homer did not leave behind much writing, letters or otherwise, and was famously reticent. This makes the biographer's job difficult, but Cross still manages to cover quite a bit of ground. I found it interesting to read about the artist's life, but at times the author got a bit carried away with names and dates. His analysis of the artwork often focused on the geometric patterns in the paintings and watercolors, which certainly did not help me understand their significance. And though it was nice to have so many pieces illustrated, some were so small and dark that I couldn't always see what was being explained. But I came away with admiration for the artist and a desire to know more about his art.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked this book out from my local library. I wanted to refresh my memory of Winslow Homer's paintings. All or nearly all of his work reproduced on heavy paper. I only wish the reproductions were larger. There is a lot of text. I read some of the biographical information and some portions of the rest. My review is based upon the photographs and the text I read.

[Suzanne Mccandless · Rating 5 out of 5]

Winslow Homer had a life focused on art. He learned all he could about art and methods of painting. Although he was a devoted son and brother to his brothers, although he formed many rewarding friendships, basically he was a loner who saw the world through art. He developed his skills and expressed his views of the world in fine and subtle ways. I learned so much about how art is constructed and how he in particularly used subtle ways to express his views of the world about him. The book has given much insight into Homer's art work so that viewing painting of his now is much more meaningful.

[Paul Rubin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing biography with so many pictures included.

But, can only give it 4 stars for a few reasons. There were too many names & dates of persons who seemed to be not directly connected to Homer's life, the art work was too small and dark (needed a magnifying glass with flashlight), and much of the analysis of the art include detailed geometry that just got in the way (maybe an artist reading the book would appreciated that aspect but it did not work for me).

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love finding books that fill in the gaps of my knowledge. Enjoyed reading about the man and his intentions with his art. Will certainly give me more to appreciate viewing his works! Highly recommend reading the book rather than a kindle.

"He never paints a scene as he sees it, nor even as he feels it personally, but only as he finds it to be intrinsically."

[Smh624 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Homer lived a very unusual and extraordinary life. This biography adroitly discusses both the making and significance of his art, and the fullness of his life. I was a big fan of Homer's art prior to reading this book, but had no idea of the depth, scale and influence of his work. Anyone interested in art will enjoy this book.

[Naperdog · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the definitive book on Winslow Homer. The author has left no stones unturned to find all the facts on Homer’s life and works. It is also a history lesson as the author describes the history of the times when Homer lives. A must read for anyone who is a scholar of Winslow Homer.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Proves paper still best for viewing images… Apple screens not there yet…

Great writing, including this valedictory sentence: “… Homer wove of himself as a protean figure living a hermetic existence on the rocky shoreline, contemplating the forces of nature besieging him.”

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this excellent bio, but my mistake was to not have a volume of Homer’s works handy as a reference since the author covered several interpretations of the artist’s better known works, some of which I was familiar with and some not.

[Marge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous scholarly work. I can't imagine that the author left any stone unturned.

[Cook Memorial Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 2022 staff favorite recommended by Rob. Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore...

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic chronological biography.

I made a video review of this book on YouTube

https://youtu.be/wI4M5AofNQY