Key West, Hauling Anchor

"Key West, Hauling Anchor" is a powerful watercolor created by Winslow Homer in 1903. This late-career work is classified as a drawing, executed using watercolor over graphite on wove paper, a demanding medium that Homer mastered during his final decades. Belonging to the period of 1901 to 1925, this piece exemplifies the artist’s commitment to depicting elemental conflicts and maritime labor in a distinctively American style.

Homer frequently traveled to the warmer climates of Florida and the Caribbean after 1885, finding rich subject matter in the drama of the sea and the lives of those dependent upon it. In Key West, Hauling Anchor, the artist captures a moment of strenuous activity. The underlying graphite sketch provides the essential framework, over which the artist applied fluid, vibrant washes of color. This technique allows for an immediacy typical of Homer's preferred approach to watercolor, emphasizing the tropical light and the dynamic posture of the figures engaged in their task. His focus here is less on detailed portraiture and more on the interplay of light, water, and human exertion against a vast natural backdrop.

As one of the preeminent American artists of his generation, Homer's late watercolors are highly valued for their expressive spontaneity and technical brilliance. The cultural impact of his work ensures that imagery like that found in this piece remains widely accessible; reproductions and prints of his key works are frequently sought by scholars and the public. As much of his celebrated output enters the public domain, the study of his technique, especially in works from the 1901 to 1925 period, is essential for understanding early 20th-century American art. This significant drawing forms part of the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., where it serves as a superb example of the artist’s final mastery of the watercolor medium.