The Adirondack Guide 1894

Winslow Homer, the great American painter, made this watercolor of an Adirondack guide sometime in the late 19th century. Homer, celebrated for his depictions of American life and landscapes, painted this portrait during a period when the Adirondacks were increasingly romanticized as a wilderness retreat. Here, Homer gives us a glimpse into a cultural moment. The guide, a figure of self-reliance and ruggedness, is calmly rowing. Yet his presence also speaks to the complex relationship between humans and nature, and the commodification of wilderness for leisure and escape. The watercolor medium lends itself to the mutability of light and shadow, and Homer uses it to convey the reflective stillness of the water, and the dappled light filtering through the trees. The guide seems at peace, absorbed in the moment, but the image makes me wonder: what is it that we seek when we venture into the wilderness, and what do we leave behind?