Artwork
The Dinner Horn (Blowing the Horn at Seaside)
The Dinner Horn (Blowing the Horn at Seaside) is an oil painting by the American Impressionist artist Winslow Homer. It dates from 1870 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left: WINSLOW HOMER .1870.
About this work
Technique & Style
Executed in oil on canvas in 1870, the work measures 48.9 cm in height and 34.9 cm in width. The handling is characterized by loose, fluid brushwork typical of Homer’s early manner, with particular attention to the play of light across the sandy shore and the sailor’s clothing.
The composition centers on a seated figure blowing a horn, framed by the expanse of sea and sky, rendered in muted tonalities that emphasize the coastal atmosphere. The horizon line is low, allowing the sea and sky to dominate, while the sailor’s figure is silhouetted against the luminous background, creating a sense of immediacy and quietude.
History & Provenance
Following its purchase at that auction, the piece was handled by Nicholas Hubby in Boston and Vose Galleries before being acquired by the Mellons in May 1985.
The Dinner Horn was painted by Winslow Homer in 1870. According to the provenance recorded by the National Gallery of Art, Homer gave the canvas directly to Charles Collins of New York state. It then descended through the Collins family, passing from Collins to his niece Maria Collins Barton of Summit, New Jersey, then to her niece Sarah Louise Collins Davis in Florida by 1974, and finally to Mrs. Hugh M. Cronister (Virginia Collins) in Cambridge, Vermont, by 1980.
The painting was offered at Sotheby Parke Bernet in New York on 23 April 1981 (lot 50) but was bought in. It subsequently passed through Nicholas Hubby of Boston and Richard A. Manoogian of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with Vose Galleries of Boston also handling the work, before being sold in May 1985 to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia. The Mellons gifted the painting to the National Gallery of Art in 1994.
A contemporaneous note in The New York Times of 26 February 1871 reported a painting titled "Dinner Horn" by Homer selling for $150 at the Somerville Gallery exhibition on 23 February 1871, likely referring to this canvas and possibly to Collins as the buyer.
The painting is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., having been gifted to the institution in 1994 by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon. Prior to this acquisition, the work passed through several private hands, including the Collins family in New York and Vermont, before being sold at Sotheby Parke Bernet in New York on April 23, 1981. Following its purchase at that auction, the piece was handled by Nicholas Hubby in Boston and Vose Galleries before being acquired by the Mellons in May 1985.
Regarding its exhibition history, a work titled "Dinner Horn" by the artist was displayed and sold at the Somerville Gallery on February 23, 1871, an event reported by The New York Times shortly thereafter. While the buyer at that 1871 sale was not named in contemporary reports, records suggest the purchaser may have been Charles Collins, the first documented owner in the painting's later provenance.
Overview
Winslow Homer’s oil on canvas, The Dinner Horn (Blowing the Horn at Seaside), was completed in 1870. The work measures a modest size and depicts a solitary figure in a rural setting, rendered with the loose brushwork typical of the period. It stands among Homer’s early explorations of outdoor genre scenes before his later focus on marine subjects.
Subject & Meaning
At the center of the composition a woman in a flowing white dress lifts a brass horn to her lips, her posture suggesting a moment of announcement or call. She is positioned on a grassy verge beside a modest brown structure, with a watering can and pot placed nearby, hinting at domestic chores interrupted by the act of sounding the horn.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Winslow Homer (February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects.
