1920.29: Under the Coco Palm

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1920.29

People

Winslow Homer, American (Boston, MA 1836 - 1910 Prouts Neck, ME)

Title

Under the Coco Palm

Other Titles

Former Title: Under the Cocoanut Palm

Classification

Drawings

Work Type

drawing

Date

1898

Culture

American

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/306173

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Transparent and opaque watercolor and graphite on white wove paper

Dimensions

38 x 53.8 cm (14 15/16 x 21 3/16 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• Signed: black crayon, l.r.: Winslow Homer 1898
• inscription: verso, black crayon: Mr. H. W. Stevens / with compliments of / W. Homer
• inscription: verso, graphite: 25823
• inscription: verso, graphite: [encircled:] 51465
• inscription: verso, blue crayon: C5240
• watermark: J. Whatm[an]
• exhibition label: mount?, paper: Reserved for loan to Akron, Mar. 25 1969 to May 11 1969 (3/5/68 H.G.B.) [noted by Yale University Art Gallery]
• exhibition label: mount?, paper: No. S.L. 59.36.3

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Winslow Homer, gift; to Henry Wingate Stevens, Portland, ME, 1901, sold [through M. Knoedler and Co., New York, 1920] [1]; to Fogg Art Museum, 1920

[1] A note in the curatorial file explains the reason for the sale: “sold to put his son through medical school.”

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Louise E. Bettens Fund

Accession Year

1920

Object Number

1920.29

Division

European and American Art

Contact

am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu

Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Publication History

• Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition, exh. cat., Portland Society of Art (Maine) (Portland, ME, 1905), cat. 9
• Portland Society of Art, exh. cat., L.D.M. Sweat Memorial Art Museum (Portland, ME, 1911-1912), cat. 2
• Thirty-sixth Exhibition of Oils and Watercolors, exh. cat., L.D.M. Sweat Memorial Art Museum (Portland, ME, 1911), cat. 108
• Walter H. Siple, "The Opening Exhibition", Arts (July 1927), vol. XII, no. 1, pp. 33-39, reproduced p. 39
• "Traveling Exhibition of American Paintings", Parnassus, College Art Association of America (New York, NY, 1930 (December)), vol. 2, no. 8, p.7, pg. 7
• M. A. Banks, The Exhibition of Homer Watercolors, Bulletin of The Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, RI, April 1931), vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 23-26, pg. 26
• Theodore Bolton, "Water Colors by Homer: Critique and Catalogue", Fine Arts (formerly known as The Antiquarian) (April 1932), pp. 16-20+, reproduced
• Ann Hamilton Sayre, "Centennial of Homer Watercolors", Art News (January 25, 1936), pp.5-6, 12, pg. 6, repro.
• Alan Burroughs, Limners and Likenesses: Three Centuries of American Painting, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA, 1936), p. 196
• Charles R. Henschel, Winslow Homer 1836-1910: Loan Exhibition of Water Colours Commemorating the Centenary of His Birth, exh. cat., M. Knoedler & Co. (New York, 1936), cat. 15
• Lloyd Goodrich, Winslow Homer Centenary Exhibition, exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, 1936), cat. 75
• Winslow Homer: Water Colors, Prints and Drawings, exh. cat., Addison Gallery of American Art (Andover, MA, 1936), reproduced, p. 23
• George Henry Lovett Smith, "The Grasp of the Moment," with checklist for Winslow Homer exhibition, Concert Bulletin for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra (Boston, 1937)
• Forbes Watson, Winslow Homer, Crown Publishers Inc. (New York, 1942), pg. 70, repro.
• Second Annual Exhibition Catalogue, exh. cat., Ogunquit Museum of American Art (Ogunquit, ME, 1954), cat. 18
• Winslow Homer: A Retrospective Exhibition, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C, 1958), no. 163, p. 98
• Lloyd Goodrich, Winslow Homer, George Braziller, Inc. (New York, NY, 1959), pl. 79
• Winslow Homer: A Retrospective Exhibition, exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston, MA, 1959), no. 137, reproduced p. 80
• Hereward Lester Cooke, "The Development of Winslow Homer's Water-Color Technique", The Art Quarterly, The Art Quarterly (Summer 1961), vol. XXIV, no. 2, pp. 169-94, pp. 169-194; ill. p. 187, fig. 16
• Albert Ten Eyck Gardner, Winslow Homer, American Artist: His World and His Work, C. N. Potter (New York, NY, 1961), p. 250, reproduced p. 164
• James Thomas Flexner, The World of Winslow Homer, 1836 - 1910, Time-Life Books (New York, NY, 1966), p. 130, reproduced in color
• Philip C. Beam, Winslow Homer at Prout's Neck, Little, Brown & Company (Boston, MA, 1966), pp. 218, 263
• Winslow Homer's Sub-Tropical America, exh. cat., Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL, 1968), pg. 12, cat. 39
• Graham Reynolds, A Concise History of Watercolours, Thames & Hudson (London, England, 1971), reproduced in b/w p. 159, plate 120
• John Wilmerding, Winslow Homer, Praeger Publishers (New York, NY, 1972), p. 175, plate 5-12
• Lloyd Goodrich, Winslow Homer, exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY, 1973), cat. 150, 122, repro.
• Patti Hannaway, Winslow Homer in the Tropics, Westover Publishing Company (Richmond, VA, 1973), pp. 222 - 223, plate 41
• Mary Ann Tighe and Elizabeth E. Lang, Art America, McGraw-Hill Book Company (New York, NY, 1977)
• Gordon Hendricks, The Life and Work of Winslow Homer, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (New York, NY, 1979), CL-275, p. 298
• Helen A. Cooper, Winslow Homer Watercolors, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art/Yale University Press (Washington, D.C. and New Haven, CT, 1986), pp. 210, 212, 255; reproduced in color fig. 201
• "Stevens Gift of Winslow Homer Letters", Between the Lions [Bowdoin College Museum of Art Newsletter], Bowdoin College Museum of Art (Brunswick, ME, Spring 1989), Vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 1-2, p. 2, ill.
• Christopher Reed, "The Artist and the Other: The Work of Winslow Homer", Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin, Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, CT, Spring 1989), pp. 68-79, p. 75, fig. 8
• Stevens Gift of Winslow Homer Letters, Between the Lions, Bowdoin College Museum of Art (1989 (Spring)), 9, no. 1, pg. 2, repro.
• Kate F. Jennings, Winslow Homer, Crescent Books (New York, NY, 1990), no. 79, reproduced
• Alexander Nemerov, Frederic Remington and Turn-of-the-Century America, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT, 1995), p. 36; reproduced in b/w p. 38, fig. 24
• Miles Unger, The Watercolors of Winslow Homer, W. W. Norton & Company (New York, 2001), pg. 222, repro. 188-89
• Lloyd Goodrich and Abigail Booth Gerdts, Record of Works by Winslow Homer, Spanierman Gallery (New York, 2005-2014), vol. 5, p. 270, no. 1664, repr. p. 270
• Robert M. Poole, "Hidden Depths", Smithsonian (May 2008), vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 86-95, repr. pp. 92-93
• Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., Virginia Anderson, and Kimberly Orcutt, ed., American Paintings at Harvard, Volume Two, Paintings, Drawings, Pastels and Stained Glass by Artists Born 1826-1856, Harvard Art Museums and Yale University Press (U.S.) (Cambridge, MA and New Haven, CT, 2008), p. 177, cat. 135, ill.
• Martha Tedeschi and Kristi Dahm, Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light, exh. cat., The Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press (Chicago, 2008), pp. 180, 183, fig. 11 (p. 182)
• Gabrielle Townsend, Winslow Homer: Aquarelles, Bibliothèque de l'Image (Paris, France, 2011), repr. pp. 7, 42
• Ethan Lasser, "The Artist as Journalist", The Magazine Antiques (November/December 2019), pp. 86-93, pp. 92-93, repr. p. 92 as fig. 9
• Colleen Walsh, "The Artist as Witness", The Harvard Gazette (September 13, 2019), e-journal, repr., https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/09/winslow-homers-work-as-civil-war-art-correspondent-focus-of-eyewitness-exhibit-at-harvard/, accessed September 17, 2019
• Murray Whyte, [review:] "Harvard Rethinks Winslow Homer's Civil War Legacy with Provocative 'Eyewitness' Show", The Boston Globe (October 3, 2019)
• Joachim Homann, Margaret Morgan Grasselli, and Miriam Stewart, ed., American Watercolors, 1880–1990: Into the Light, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, 2023), repr. as pl. 11 on p. 80

Exhibition History

• Exposition d'Art Américain John S. Sargent, R. A., Dodge MacKnight, Winslow Homer, Paul Manship, Association Franco-Américaine d'Expositions, Paris, 05/18/1923 - 06/25/1923
• Water Colors by Winslow Homer, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 09/09/1923 - 10/26/1923
• Exhibition of Water Colors by Winslow Homer, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, 02/06/1931 - 03/01/1931
• Unidentified Exhibition, Princeton University, 1931, Princeton University, Princeton, 12/28/1931 - 02/01/1932
• Water Colors by Winslow Homer, 1836 - 1910, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 05/16/1932 - 06/15/1932
• A Century of Progress Art Exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 06/01/1933 - 11/01/1933
• Century of Progress Art Exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 05/01/1934 - 11/10/1934
• Unidentified Exhibition, Lawrence College, 1935, Lawrence University, Appleton, 03/01/1935 - 04/30/1935
• Unidentified Exhibition, Phillips Exeter Academy, 1935, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, 10/14/1935 - 11/16/1935
• Winslow Homer, 1836 - 1910: Loan Exhibition of Watercolors Commemorating the Centenary of his Birth, Knoedler & Co. Inc., New York, 01/20/1936 - 02/08/1936
• Paintings and Drawings by Winslow Homer, 1836 - 1910, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 06/01/1936 - 06/30/1986
• Winslow Homer: Water Colors, Prints and Drawings, Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, 09/24/1936 - 10/25/1936; Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, 10/31/1936 - 11/30/1936; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 12/15/1936 - 01/15/1937; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, 01/30/1937 - 02/28/1937
• [Winslow Homer exhibition], Symphony Hall, Boston, 01/01/1937 - 12/31/1937
• Unidentified Watercolor Exhibition, Winchester Art Association, 1940, Winchester Art Association, Winchester, 11/29/1939 - 12/31/1939
• Watercolors by Winslow Homer, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 10/09/1944 - 11/01/1944
• Masters of American Watercolor, Wellesley College Museum of Art, Wellesley, 10/18/1949 - 11/20/1949
• Unidentified Exhibition, Cambridge Trust Company, 1951, Cambridge Trust Company, Cambridge, 10/29/1951 - 11/23/1951
• Water Colors, Drawings, and Wood Engravings by Winslow Homer from the Collections of Eight East Coast Museums, Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich, 02/03/1952 - 02/24/1952
• Second Annual Exhibition, Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit, 07/01/1954 - 09/12/1954
• The Art of Winslow Homer, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, 11/01/1954 - 11/21/1954; Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, 12/01/1954 - 12/21/1954
• American Paintings from the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Symphony Hall, Boston, 02/21/1958 - 03/15/1958
• Winslow Homer: A Retrospective Exhibition, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 11/23/1958 - 01/04/1959; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 01/29/1959 - 03/08/1959; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 03/26/1959 - 05/03/1959
• Watercolors by Winslow Homer, 1836 - 1910, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 07/07/1966 - 08/28/1966
• Winslow Homer, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 04/03/1973 - 06/24/1973; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 07/03/1973 - 08/15/1973; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 09/08/1973 - 10/21/1973
• Winslow Homer Watercolors, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 03/02/1986 - 05/11/1986; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, 06/06/1986 - 07/27/1986; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 09/11/1986 - 11/02/1986
• Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 02/16/2008 - 05/11/2008
• Winslow Homer: Eyewitness, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/31/2019 - 01/05/2020

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