The Gilded Age in American Art

Winslow Homer (1836-1910) is best known for his American landscapes, specifically his seascapes from off the coast of Maine. He was a self-taught artist who followed the 19th-century precept to look at nature rather than pictures. Homer often painted in the open air to capture the effects of outdoor life and then refined and distilled his studies to construct a more forceful representation of his subjects.

Cloud Shadows was painted during Homer's later period when his subjects were predominantly heroic seascapes, emphasizing the struggles between man and nature. However, this seascape harkens back to Homer's middle period, which included rural scenes, children playing, and well-dressed women shown in fashionable resorts. These subjects celebrated old-fashioned rural values in a nation undergoing rapid change and urbanization.