The Fog Warning by Winslow Homer
The meaning of The Fog Warning is very much up to the viewer’s interpretation. It is interesting to me because the fisherman has two big fish in his boat but is now facing a storm. Before reading the background description of the artist and the time period, I had a much different opinion about this work of art.
At first glance I came to the conclusion that this painting was about greed. It seemed as if maybe the fisherman had stayed out too long in the day to get another massive fish, and now there was a storm coming towards him. Maybe he has gotten greedy after his first big catch so he stayed out despite the fog warning.
The background information on the Museum of Fine Arts at Boston’s website made me draw a much different conclusion. This painting was done shortly after the Civil War in a series of three paintings about the North Atlantic fisherman. This painting has a fisherman that has completed his fishing for the day very successfully and then turning to go home and realizing the trip back will be even harder than catching those massive fish. This piece is actually about the Civil War. The North had been successful in winning the war but now as they are headed home they face an even bigger task, reconstruction of the United States.
In the video (link at the bottom) conversation between Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Stephen Zucker, they come up with a very different inference as to the meaning behind this painting. They see a fisherman in his tipping rowboat looking towards the ship he is headed to. The fog is rolling in and about to make the ship disappear so the man in the rowboat is assessing his situation. He is very far out to sea about to get lost and never return.
They thought the meaning of this painting was about the ruthlessness of nature and being on your own in the middle of the immense ocean. As well as having the strength to get back before the fog gets too dark. It is about the danger and how humans overcome nature. It is a dark version of a sunset and a dark way of painting the sea.
The Museum of Fine Arts Boston: The Fog Warning https://collections.mfa.org/objects/31042
Homer, The Fog Warning (video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9s_uJlG3b8&feature=youtu.be
