25/07/2022
Winslow Homer: A chronicler of US turbulence
From the moment you enter the exhibition Winslow Homer: Crosscurrents, you are immediately at sea, caught up in the US artist's 1906 masterpiece, The Gulf Stream. Against a swirling backdrop of storm-tossed waters and churning clouds, a lone black sailor lies propped against the edge of a small, battered boat. With his legs stretched before him, he turns his face to the side, away from both the damaged ship's mast that has left him adrift, as well as from the open-mouthed sharks lurking in wait. He fixes his gaze with stoic determination on the dark, expansive waters filled with waves through which any number of fish fly and jump. But focused as he is in that direction, he cannot see the distant ghostly outline on the opposite horizon of a three-masted ship that just might offer the possibility of rescue.
