Shipwreck!: Winslow Homer and the Life Line

by Kathleen A. Foster

Published on the occasion of the exhibition Shipwreck! Winslow Homer and 'The Life Line,' Philadelphia Museum of Art, September 22, 2012-December 16, 201

Genres: Art

Hardcover

First published August 1, 2012

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting from a single painting, the eponymous ‘The Life Line’, Kathleen Foster does an excellent job of putting the paining into context after context. The context of shipwreck paintings in Europe and America, the context of American history and attitudes to ships, the sea, and shipwrecks, and the context of Winslow Homer’s career; Foster uses all of these to add depth and insight into ‘The Life Line’, giving her readers a chance to see what the expert sees when considering the painting.

I’ve long appreciated Winslow Homer’s paintings and watercolors when I’ve seen them, but there’s so much more there that I was missing.