Lecture: The Education of Homer

Lecture | The Education of Winslow Homer

Judith C. Walsh, paper conservator and Professor Emerita, Buffalo State University.

Registration requested; walk-ins welcome

Winslow Homer was famously self-taught. Although personal study has its disadvantages, it helped shape Homer's distinctive style and lasting reputation as the quintessential American artist. The lecture will contrast Homer’s art education with that of his contemporaries and follow the path Homer stubbornly followed to surpass their work. Finally, Homer became a great artist, not simply the most “American” of our painters.

Judith C. Walsh, a renowned paper conservator and Winslow Homer expert, conducted the first technical analysis and survey of Winslow Homer’s etchings, serving as a critical consultant for this exhibition. Both she and Mize examined over eighty impressions of the artist’s prints across fifteen different museum collections to gather data and draw subsequent conclusions that help us better understand Homer’s process and techniques as a printmaker.