Genre and Still Life Painting

Winslow Homer (1836–1910)
Apple Picking, 1878
The much-admired American painter Winslow Homer used his art to document contemporary outdoor life and explore people’s physical and emotional relationships to nature. He painted Apple Picking at Houghton Farm in the Hudson River Valley. The watercolor depicts two girls, dressed in rustic clothes, posed together in a sunlit apple orchard. The contrast between bright sun and deep shadow on their attire and their surroundings demonstrates the artist’s exceptional ability to convey the effects of natural light. Devoid of sentimentality, Homer’s vision engages in the contemporary fascination with childhood, a symbol of both national regeneration and lost innocence in the wake of the American Civil War (1861–65). The scene lacks the carefree exuberance of depictions of youth by other artists of that period. Instead, these young apple pickers gaze into the distance, looking precociously wise and aware.
Learn more about this watercolor on the Terra Foundation website.
Genre and Still Life Painting

Eastman Johnson (1824–1906)
Fiddling His Way, c. 1866

Lilly Martin Spencer (1822–1902)
The Home of the Red, White, and Blue, c. 1867–68

William Sidney Mount (1807–1868)
Fruit Piece: Apples on Tin Cups, 1864

Winslow Homer (1836–1910)
Apple Picking, 1878

William Sidney Mount (1807–1868)
The Trap Sprung, 1844

Robert Spear Dunning (1829–1905)
Harvest of Cherries, 1866

Samuel Colman, Jr. (1832–1920)
Ships Unloading, New York, 1868

John George Brown (1831–1913)
Picnic Party in the Woods, 1872

Martin Johnson Heade (1819–1904)
Still Life with Apple Blossoms in a Nautilus Shell, 1870

Thomas Waterman Wood (1783–1872)
The Yankee Pedlar, 1872

George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879)
The Jolly Flatboatmen, 1877–78

John Haberle (1853–1933)
One Dollar Bill, 1890

Winslow Homer (1836–1910)
The Whittling Boy, 1873

John Frederick Peto (1854–1907)
Old Time Letter Rack, 1894