The Green Hill

1878

Winslow Homer

Associated Names
Winslow Homer

Artist, American, 1836 - 1910

This painting shows a green landscape with a horizon line about two-thirds up the frame. Trees dot the horizon, and a dark green hill rises in the distance. A red building is partially visible behind some green trees near the upper left corner. Closer to us, a woman sits on what seems to be a brown stone wall, facing the right. Her right arm is raised, her hand resting on her head, obscuring her face. She has pale skin and dark brown hair tied into a braid, and she wears a gray dress and black shoes. Behind her is a grassy green field that stretches towards the horizon. The sky above is mostly white, with some hints of light gray and pale blue painted with thick, light brushstrokes.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    watercolor, gouache, and graphite on gray-green wove paper faded to brown

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 17.5 × 20.9 cm (6 7/8 × 8 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1994.59.25

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Goodrich/Gerdts 2008, Vol. III, no. 680

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; gift to NGA, 1994.Lawson Valentine, (d. 1891); Valentine-Pulsifer Collection (sale, 1989), Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, VA, 1989; gift to NGA, 1994.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1911

  • Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Winslow Homer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 6 Feb.-19 March 1911, no. 27 (as Hillside)

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. 24

1954

  • The Art of Winslow Homer, Bowdoin College Museum of Fine Arts, Brunswick, Maine, and Art Department of Colby College, Waterville, Maine, 1-21 Nov. and 1-21 Dec. 1954

1963

  • Winslow Homer in New York State, Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, New York, 29 June-22 Aug. 1963, no. 24

  • Winslow Homer, The Katonah (New York) Gallery, 8 Sept.-15 Oct. 1963, no. 7

1990

  • Winslow Homer in the 1870s: Selections from the Valentine-Pulsifer Collection, The Art Museum, Princeton (New Jersey) University, 10 Feb.11-11 March 1990; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, 18 March-15 April 1990, no. 11

1995

  • Winslow Homer, National Gallery of Art, Washington; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1995-1996, 163-164, no. 93, as The Green Hill [On the Hill].

1999

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

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: 67, 69.

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. 93.

2008

  • Goodrich, Lloyd and Abigail Booth Gerdts. Record of Works by Winslow Homer. New York, 2008: III, no. 680. p. 119

Inscriptions

lower right in black ink: HOMER 1878; upper center verso in graphite (?) by unknown hand: N.3

Watermarks

BS: MONTGOLFIER

Wikidata ID

Q64640191

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