Winslow Homer's The Herring Net

This exhibition features paintings of people straining to complete arduous tasks as part of their professions. Despite immense physical separation, these works share similar emotions of despair yet hope despite grueling circumstances.
An initial impression of Winslow Homer’s oil painting The Herring Net evokes extreme empathy and despair for the two sailors in a rowboat who are straining to haul in their ample catch of herring during rough chop and gloomy weather, cramped in a rowboat, in the cold Atlantic Ocean. Exhaustion is sensed as the two seamen are physically arched, using every ounce of strength they possess. The man in the back is pulling in the net whose weight is sensed by the numerous fish being pulled into the ship. Some net is already in the boat with fish …show more content…
The painting consists solely of an anonymous worker holding a large basket of cabbage, while bending forward and holding a vague green object. The painting is simplistic and tonally light, consisting of broad strokes, an abstract background, and overall low detail that visually contrasts and enhances the situational discomfort of laborer. The scale of the basket and the pose of the man communicates great struggle. The large, smooth brush strokes give everything a smooth texture, emphasizing the only rough texture- the ribbed wicker of the enormous basket which would irritate the man’s back. The heavy basket is uncomfortably held with one hand holding a strap that connects to the side of the basket, meaning force is exerted entirely on the man’s back and left elbow. Heat is felt by how the workers is engrossed by thick white cloth and a large sombrero. The lone man almost entirely fills the canvas, conveying claustrophobia and loneliness. Yet hope springs from the piece. The worker wears pure white and it radiates through lighter proximate background colors revealing the white of the