The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Leaping Trout

Leaping Trout

1889
(American, 1836–1910)
Sheet: 35 x 50.6 cm (13 3/4 x 19 15/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Noted for his technical variety in watercolors, Homer used a technique called scraping—removing softened paint and paper fibers by taking a blunt or sharp object to the paper’s wet surface—to produce the pond’s two glistening white highlights.

Description

In 1886, Winslow Homer began to produce oil paintings and watercolors of subjects in the Adirondack Mountains, where he and his brother Charles had fished and hunted since the 1870s. In Leaping Trout, a silvery trout propels itself from the water in pursuit of a hapless insect or a fisherman’s fly. Homer’s choice to adopt the fish’s perspective, rather than a fisherman’s, is quite unconventional and heightens the drama and immediacy of the scene. His technique, influenced by the free brushwork of French Impressionism, similarly animates his still-life subject. Luminous washes of transparent blue and grey watercolor suggest the fish’s iridescent skin, while opaque pricks of bright red on its body lend a decorative effect reminiscent of Japanese prints. On the water’s surface, Homer uses scraping to create two brilliant white highlights, and dry brushing to produce the impression of a reflective surface. Although the overall effect is mysterious and dreamlike, the color and movement of the fish is carefully studied, suggesting Homer’s desire to appeal to the sportsmen who might buy his works.
  • c. 1925
    (F.W. Bayley & Son, Boston, MA.)
    2/10/1925-5/21/1925
    (Macbeth Gallery, New York, New York, sold to Ralph T. King, Sr. on 5/21/1925.)
    1925-?
    Mr. and Mrs. Ralph T. King, Cleveland, OH.
    After 1937-1973
    Anonymous donor, purchased from the Ralph T. King, Sr. Collection.
    1973-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, gift of anonymous donor.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of an Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today. Cleveland, OH: Printed by the Artcraft Printing Co., 1937. Mentioned: no. 92, p. 26
    Whitney Museum of American Art and Lloyd Goodrich. Winslow Homer. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1973. Mentioned: p. 139, no. 119
    "Annual Report for 1973." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 61, no. 6 (1974): 179-213. Mentioned: p. 186
    "The Year in Review for 1973." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 61, no. 2 (1974): 31-78. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 52, p. 74, no. 36
    Hendricks, Gordon. The Life and Work of Winslow Homer. New York: Harry N. Abram, 1979. Reproduced: Plate CL-561, p. 318
    Cooper, Helen A. Winslow Homer Watercolors. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1986. Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 154, p. 166, p. 252
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1991. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 134
    Cikovsky, Nicolai. Winslow Homer Watercolors. Southport, Conn.: Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, 1991. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 24, color pl. 8
    Cikovsky, Nicolai, Franklin Kelly, and Winslow Homer. Winslow Homer. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1995. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 266-67, no. 165
    Tatham, David, Hallie Bond, and Tom Rosenbauer. Fishing in the North Woods: Winslow Homer. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1995. Reproduced: p. 47
    Tatham, David. Winslow Homer in the Adirondacks. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1996. Mentioned: Appendix B, p. 140
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Diane DeGrazia, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2000. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 87, pp. 210-211, p. 295; Reproduced: p. 211
    Gerdts, Abigail Booth and Lloyd Goodrich. Record of Works by Winslow Homer, vol. 4.2. New York: City University of New York, 2005-2014. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 488, no. 1418.
    Griffin, Randall C. Winslow Homer: An American Vision. New York: Phaidon Press, Inc., 2006. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 147-148
    Tedeschi, Martha, Kristi Dahm, Judith Walsh, and Karen Huang. Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2008. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 138-139, no. 56
  • Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 9-June 8, 2014).
    Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (February 16-May 11, 2008).
    Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).
    Winslow Homer. National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (organizer) (October 15, 1995-January 28, 1996); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA (February 21-May 26, 1996); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (June 20-September 22, 1996).
    Winslow Homer Watercolors. Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX (June 6-July 27, 1986); Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (September 11-November 2, 1986).
    Year in Review: 1973. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 30-March 17, 1974).
    Winslow Homer. Whitney Museum of American Art (organizer) (April 3- June 3, 1973); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (July 3- August 15, 1973); The Art Institute of Chicago (September 8- October 21, 1973).
    Thirty-two Watercolors Conceived in the Adirondacks. Reichard & Co, New York (February, 1890).
    Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 until Today. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art (June 23, 1937 - October 4, 1937).
    Fourth Exhibition of Water Colors and Pastels, Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 17 – March 13, 1927).
  • {{cite web|title=Leaping Trout|url=false|author=Winslow Homer|year=1889|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1973.142