Fishing off Scarborough

During Homer’s sojourn in England from 1881 to 1882, he rented a studio on a cliff overlooking Cullercoats Harbor, where he observed the comings and goings of fishing boats. Fishing Off Scarborough shows two young women and two fishermen in a coble as it slices through coastal waters. Carefully rendered in graphite, the figures and fishing boat stand in contrast to Homer’s spontaneous, abstract representation of clouds, mist, and spray done in opaque white watercolor. In addition to employing graphite to describe concrete objects, Homer used his pencil to suggest abstract effects, such as smoke rising from the steamship in the right background. Fishing Off Scarborough served as the basis for Homer’s 1883 watercolor, Returning Fishing Boats, which the artist completed after his return to New York from England.