The Gulf Stream

Museum record 16794: The Gulf Stream by Winslow Homer. A verified entry point for discovery.

What to notice

For The Gulf Stream (record 16794), start with modern, expressive, atmospheric. Compare the focal subject, edge treatment, and atmosphere before moving on.

Discover

Homer’s exploration of life and death in the tropics found ultimate expression in his oil painting The Gulf Stream painted at Prout’s Neck following his return from the Bahamas. A group of four watercolors documents the evolution of this terrifying seascape, which details the plight of a solitary black man, adrift in stormy seas on a broken boat and encircled by a school of aggressive requiem sharks. In early 1885, on his first trip to the Bahamas, Homer had painted Shark Fishing which depicts two fisher…