Watch-Tower 1874

"Watch-Tower," an 1874 wood engraving by Winslow Homer, depicts a watchtower at the corner of Spring and Varick streets in New York City. The artwork is composed of four scenes, each with a different aspect of the watchtower. The top scene shows a man looking out a window with a telescope, highlighting the watchman’s role. The middle scene shows the watchtower’s large bell and the man ringing it. The left scene shows a view of the watchtower from the street, while the right scene shows a view of a fire from the watchtower. This work demonstrates Homer’s interest in capturing everyday life and its relationship to the built environment, a subject that would recur in his later paintings.