Ranked among America’s finest 19th century artists – and I would extend the time window – Winslow Homer is a somewhat difficult artist to collect. Even though his catalogue raisonne spans 6 volumes, his art work is not readily available. So we write to temper irrational exuberance for would be collectors, and offer practical collecting tips.
The first step is to understand the media in which Homer worked. He is known to have worked in wood block engravings, etchings, engravings, graphite, watercolors, oils, 1 sculpture, and tile. Since I am not a Homer specialist, I do not pretend that this list is exhaustive.
Given the foregoing, the most available works are the wood engravings produced for Harper’s Weekly as a war correspondent for the magazine. These works on paper in a somewhat mass circulation publication can still be had for a few hundred or couple of thousands of dollars, of which Snap the Whip is probably the most coveted.
Homer immersed himself in etchings from about 1887-89 when there was a French inspired revival of the art, but the artist eventually withdrew from it when commercial success eluded him. Clarkart.edu documents 7 principal etchings plus two others each of which were probably printed in editions of 100 or so. This information is based upon edition counts on the signed prints, but as one dealer suggested, rather venally perhaps, the quantities produced may never have reached that number.
The next major category of Homer art are his paintings of which exist watercolors and oils on canvas or linen. While his works are chronicled in a 6 volume catalog raisonne, they are not all paintings, nor do they appear at auction often. Christies online search shows 52 lots going back to 2008. That is an average of 3 lots per year which includes all media. Only about half of them were paintings.
The odds favor finding the Harper’s prints regardless of price. Anything else is typically hunt and peck. The higher up the food chain you go, the deeper the pockets are needed.