Salt Kettle, Bermuda 1899

Winslow Homer created this watercolor, Salt Kettle, Bermuda, during a period of travel and exploration that would deeply inform his later work. Here, the artist is working in Bermuda, a British colony and popular tourist destination known for its distinctive architecture of white roofs and pastel walls. Homer sets up a study in contrasts between the solid geometry of man-made structures and the dynamic fluidity of the water and sky. This interest in the power of natural forces is one that he developed through his time as an artist correspondent during the American Civil War. He had seen how war reshaped people and societies. By the 1880’s and 90’s, Homer turned away from genre scenes of contemporary life to focus almost exclusively on seascapes and landscapes. Art historians can use sources such as letters, travel journals, and exhibition reviews to better understand an artist's biography and social contexts.