10/30/2025
This watercolor painting by Winslow Homer depicts a boy among a field of pumpkins.
Although the sky in "For to Be a Farmer’s Boy" has faded, X-ray evidence suggests that the artist originally painted the sky with dilute washes of chrome yellow, pink madder, and vermilion to create a glowing orange sunset. And so, the watercolor originally showed a young boy pausing in his work of harvesting pumpkins to gaze toward the setting sun.
Homer was influenced by the work of French Barbizon School artists, whose pictures of peasants pausing for a moment of contemplation at the end of their workday resonated with Homer, who showed a lifelong preference for depicting workers.
Image:
Winslow Homer. "For to Be a Farmer’s Boy," 1887. Gift of Mrs. George T. Langhorne in memory of Edward Carson Waller. https://bit.ly/49epRyn
