On the Fence

1878

Winslow Homer

Associated Names
Winslow Homer

Artist, American, 1836 - 1910

Two children are depicted in this painting. A young boy is sitting on a tree branch on the left, looking down at a girl on the right. The boy is barefoot, wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat, a long-sleeve brown shirt, suspenders, and yellow trousers. The girl is turned to the left and has her hands clasped around the tree branch above her. She has one leg bent and raised, her foot resting on a wooden fence that stretches across the bottom of the painting. She has a braided ponytail and is wearing a pale blue dress with elbow-length sleeves and ruffles around the waist. Both children have pale skin. The tree branch that the boy is sitting on and the girl is holding has many thinner branches connected to it, all covered in bright green leaves. The background shows soft mountains in blue and green under a pale, off-white sky.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    watercolor, gouache, and graphite on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 28.5 × 22 cm (11 1/4 × 8 11/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1994.59.22

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Goodrich/Gerdts 2008, Vol. III, no. 721

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Lawson Valentine, New York, c. 1879, Lucy Houghton Valentine (Mrs. Lawson Valentine), 1891; Almira Valentine Pulsifer (Mrs. Nathan Trowbridge Pulsifer), her daughter, 1911; Harold Trowbridge Pulsifer, New York, her son, nd; Susan Nichols Pulsifer (Mrs. Harold Trowbridge Pulsifer), in trust, 1948; Alice Pulsife Doyle (Mrs. Joseph Doyle), his niece, 1987. Valentine-Pulsifer Collection (sale, 1989), Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, VA, 1989; gift to NGA, 1994.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1879

  • Twelfth Annual Exhibition, American Water Color Society, New York, 3 Feb.-1 March 1879, no. 170 (as On the Fence) [?, see also no. 720]

1915

  • Water Colors by Winslow Homer, The Museum of the Brooklyn Institute, 16 Oct.-7 Nov. 1915; The Century Association, New York, 8 Dec. 1915-c. 14 Jan. 1916, no. 26

1963

  • Winslow Homer in New York State, Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, 29 June-22 Aug. 1963, no. 26

1990

  • Winslow Homer in the 1870s: Selections from the Valentine-Pulsifer Collection, 10 Feb.-11 March 1990; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, 18 March-15 April 1990, no. 8

1995

  • Winslow Homer, National Gallery of Art, Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1995-1996, 166-167, no. 98, as On the Fence [On the Farm].

1999

  • An Enduring Legacy: Masterpieces from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1999-2000.

2005

  • Winslow Homer in the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2005-2006, unnumbered brochure.

2009

  • Winslow Homer's Emprire State: Houghton Farm and Beyond, Syracuse University Art Galleries, New York, 18 Aug 2009-11 Oct 2009

  • Winslow Homer's Empire State: Houghton Farm and Beyond, Syracuse University Art Galleries, Syracuse, New York, 18 Aug 2009 - 1 Oct 2009.

Bibliography

1990

  • Wilmerding, John and Linda Ayres. Winslow Homer in the 1870's: Selections from the Valentine-Pulsifer Collection. Exh. cat. The Art Museum, Princeton University; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford. Princeton, 1990: 60-61.

1995

  • Winslow Homer. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1995-1996: no. 98.

2008

  • Goodrich, Lloyd and Abigail Booth Gerdts. Record of Works by Winslow Homer. New York, 2008: III: no. 721, p. 148.

2009

  • Tatham, David and David Lake Prince. Winslow Homer's Empire State: Houghton Farm and Beyond. Exh. cat. Syracuse University Art Galleries, Syracuse, New York, 2009: 56, no. 9.

Inscriptions

lower left in black ink: HOMER 1878; center verso in graphite by unknown hand: Enfants Jouer sur un barestre(?)

Wikidata ID

Q64640179

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