Winslow Homer
The Life Line
From $100
This sea is cold greys and greens with a flash of silver fish, and a dull copy loses the glint. Our Winslow Homer the herring net print was graded against the Art Institute of Chicago’s own photograph, so the herring still glisten and the sea stays cold.
Stretched canvas. Printed on cotton canvas and stretched taut over a frame. The edges are mirror-wrapped, so the picture continues around the sides and none of it is lost to the fold.
Framed canvas. The same canvas, set in a black, white, natural wood or dark wood frame 0.83 in deep. The frame gives the work a finished edge and a little more presence on the wall.
Framed print. Printed on fine art matte paper and framed in solid pine, behind shatterproof plexiglass, in black, white, natural wood or dark wood. It arrives ready to hang. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame.
Fine art print. Printed on 310gsm fine art matte paper, for framing your own way. It travels rolled and protected. From 18x24 inch.
18x12 inch, 28x18 inch, 40x24 inch. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.
Its long shape belongs above a sofa, a bed or a sideboard. The greys and greens look strong with navy, white and weathered wood, and a black or natural frame suits the sea.
About the painting
In 1881 Homer had lived among the fishing families of Tynemouth, on the north-east coast of England, and it changed his life. Back home in Maine he painted almost nothing but people struggling with the sea.
Two fishermen in a small dory haul in a net heavy with glistening herring. One pulls; the other, perhaps a boy, unloads the fish. Far off, the schooners wait on the horizon as the boat rides the swell.
Homer made their daily work heroic. The painting was shown in New York in 1885 and at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, and belongs to the Art Institute of Chicago.
A fishing village in England changed Winslow Homer's life. This is what he painted afterwards.
In 1881, Homer goes to live among the fishing families of Tynemouth, on the coast of England. He watches the men go out to sea.
When he comes home, he paints almost nothing but people struggling with the sea.
In 1885, at Prouts Neck in Maine, he paints two fishermen in a small wooden dory.
One hauls in a net heavy with silver herring. The other, perhaps a boy, pulls the glistening fish into the boat. The boat rocks on the swell, and far away, the big fishing schooners wait on the horizon.
It's hard, cold, everyday work. But Homer makes it heroic.
That November it was shown in New York. Later it hung at the great World's Fair in Chicago in 1893.
Today it belongs to the Art Institute of Chicago.
Lean over the side with them, and help pull in the net.
The Herring Net. Winslow Homer, 1885.
Faithful to the original, and made to be felt on your wall.
We compare every work with the original as we grade it, keeping the artist’s colours true while bringing back their depth and glow. Every mark stays the artist’s own.
Printed to order on cotton canvas or fine art paper, then framed if you chose a frame, in 1 to 3 business days.
It arrives 5 to 12 business days later, tracked and free anywhere in the US. Framed pieces come ready to hang.
No. The original hangs in a museum. What you receive is a fine art reproduction, remastered from the original and printed for you, with every mark where the artist left it.
This is where most reproductions disappoint, and it is where we spend the most time. Each work is graded side by side with the original: faithful to the artist’s colours, with the depth and warmth brought back, so it moves you on the wall the way it was meant to. Canvas reads a touch softer than a backlit screen, and every screen shows colour a little differently.
Each size is a standard frame size, so we fit the painting by trimming a little from its edges. We never stretch or squash it, and we check every size by eye so no face, figure or signature is cut. On canvas the edges are mirror-wrapped, which keeps the whole picture on the front.
Aim for about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Over a sofa or a sideboard, one of the two largest sizes will hold the wall. The size guide lists every size in inches and centimetres, with the kind of wall each one suits.
Your piece is printed in 1–3 business days, then spends 5–12 business days in transit, tracked all the way. Delivery is free anywhere in the US. We are unable to deliver to PO boxes.
Send us a photograph and we will remake it and send it again. There is nothing to return.
Yes, within 30 days of delivery. Our returns policy has the details.
Printed to order
Graded against the original, then printed for you on cotton canvas or fine art paper in 1–3 business days.
The whole painting
Every mark is the artist’s own, and canvas edges are mirror-wrapped so the whole picture stays on the front.
Free US shipping
On every order, tracked, 5–12 business days in transit.
30-day returns
Returns and exchanges within 30 days of delivery.