Homer Winslow's The Gulf Stream | A Formal Analysis
The subject of my formal analysis is Winslow Homer, The Gulf Stream, 1889, Oil on canvas 71.4 x 124.8 cm (Fig. 1). This painting is done in a semi-overhead view style, relatively small to medium in length and width. It is of a black man on a small boat in an ocean infested with man-eating sharks with a storm brewing on the distant horizon. The man depicted in the painting has a muscular build, tall and athletic. He is practically naked except for his ragged trousers.
The boat he is a small boat used to travel from a mother ship to the shore or as a lifeboat when shipwrecked or lost at sea. The waters are wild and raging with large, swelling waves and are largely infested with enormous, man-eating sharks. Although there is a huge, swirling storm in the distant horizon of the sea, the sun’s rays are shining brightly and directly on the main subject, which is the tall, muscular black male. Prevalent in the raging waters is an overabundance of blood from the recent victims of the man-eating sharks. To the left and in the distance, further still from the brewing storm on the horizon, is a very large sea vessel. The large, muscular black man is calm and composed on the little ship, despite the chaos of the sharks, the storm brewing in the distance and the ominous, large ship on the horizon.
The outside format of the piece is a horizontal rectangle. The painting is small to medium in size, relatively small in length and width as compared to other larger works on display in the museum.
In reference to the composition of the work, the painting by Homer is balanced symmetrically and extremely dynamic because the main focal point in the painting is central or centered with four of the five secondary focal points evenly positioned just below, to the right and to the left. It is extremely dynamic because it is capturing powerful motions as well as deadly actions in a single image.
In describing the perspective of this work, it is done in an intuitive perspective as well as a linear perspective style. Overall, the palette of this work is mixed. The blue of the waters and of the sky, coupled with the gray of the sharks and that of the sky, give the painting an overall coolness that is balanced and sharply contrasted by the hot, red of the blood in the waters, the color of the small boat and the warm skin-tone of the main subject, the tall, muscular black male.
The foreground of this Homer painting begins well before the edge of the canvas because the action is taking place out in the middle of the ocean. Depicted in the foreground are dark blue waters, filled with red blood and a huge great white shark with its mouth open, ready to devour its prey. The waves of these dark blue waters are strong and swollen, wild and chaotic.
The largest of the sharks in the painting is in the foreground with its teeth prominently displayed and ready to bite its prey, meaning that the sharks are the overt and obvious villains in the painting.
The blood is prevalent and prominently displayed, filling the ocean waters in the foreground, meaning that many have suffered this horrific death in the not so distant past.
The middle ground of the Homer painting contains the main subject of the painting, the tall, and muscular black male on the small boat. The ship is small, ravaged and tethered, indicating that it has been through a very rough time out at sea, although it still floats. It also contains several other hungry, man-eating sharks and blood soaked waters from the past victims of the sharks as well. The waters are raging and wild with very high swells. More importantly, it contains several flying white fish, an oddity of nature that is very rarely seen if at all, unless one spends a substantial amount of time out at sea.
The black man in the painting is tall and muscular and his face has very sharp features associated with men of African decent. He is not wearing any clothes except for a pair of ragged pants that only cover his legs until just below his knees. Although he is in the midst of a very strong storm and shark infested waters, the subject is very calm, composed and collected. His head is turned toward the left and his gaze is intently fixed on the approaching storm that sits treacherously on the horizon. This means that although the storm is mighty and the water dangerous, the black man can indeed whether the dangerous storm and is prepared for anything that the future has to offer.
The smaller, more concealed sharks are a huge part of the middle background. Although they are not as prominent as the larger shark depicted in the foreground, they play an integral part in the painting as they affirm the fact that the waters are indeed shark infested, and also that the main character in the painting is in serious peril. These sharks are more concealed than the others, except for the one shark who is jumping out of the water and into the small boat of the black man. This means that the black man is very much in danger as he surrounded by the torrid, raging waters of the ocean as well as the man eating sharks, symbolizing the difficulty and stress that the black race encounters in everyday life.
The ship that the black man is on is a small boat whose inscription reads “Anna-Key West”. The boat’s bow and mast are broken and overall is not in very good shape at all as it is ravaged by the present storm, meaning that the black man is too unprepared, vulnerable or poorly trained to handle the proverbial storms that he will face in life. The ship is also lacking in the necessary supplies needed for survival when sailing out at sea.
The black man is poor. The black man is uneducated. The black man lacks the skills necessary for survival. The black man is sub-human or unequal to the White man.
The white-winged, flying fish are very subtly depicted and small in the painting, far less prominent than the huge, man-eating sharks. The fish are flying north East from the vantage point of the viewer and are flying together in a family. They are flying into the same direction as that of which the main character is intently staring, away from the danger of the man-eating sharks as well as the ominous, mammoth looming storm and especially the huge sailing vessel both on the very distant horizon. This means that although the black man depicted on the small boat is apparently alone, in all actuality he is not. In actuality, he is being looked over and guided by a higher power that cares for and is willing to intercede on behalf of the black man who is alone on the ship. The flying fish take on the persona of angels.
The background in the top third portion of this Homer painting contains two symbolic elements that contribute greatly to the controversial nature of the painting. One element is the enormous looming storm on the horizon of the ocean, the top right of the painting. The other element is the very large sailing vessel, also on the horizon but off to the left, the middle-left of the painting.
The very large storm emerging from the Northeast of the viewer’s vantage point is very scary looking and presents clear and present danger to the sole black man sailing on the small ship. It is the definite cause for the torrential waves that are wildly rocking the small boat and the ravaged condition that “Anna-Key West” is in.
The large sailing vessel or ship in the middle-left and background of the painting is small in size as compared to the other elements that comprise this painting yet it is very significant in its symbolism. It is a slave ship that was carrying it’s cargo to the Americas through the Gulf Stream in the midst of a storm, the ship from which the main subject, the strong, muscular black male escaped on the small boat and into the shark infested, raging waters.
The artist painted this particular painting with the intention of giving the viewer a bird’s eye view of an event that takes place on the middle of the ocean because there is no land under the vantage point of the viewer. This event would be hidden from anyone that could not see out this far from land so it is done with the intention of revelation, revealing to the viewer what he or she had no prior knowledge of. The intent gaze of the black man on the small ship is firmly set to the East. He is staring back in the direction of home. However, the small ship’s bow is headed directly west and, even scarier, towards the slave ship that he bravely escaped from, adding even more controversy and mystery to this Winslow Homer painting.
This painting has one main focal point and five secondary focal points.
The main focal point of the painting is a strong black man on a small ship in the middle of a raging storm, escaping the oppression of his slave traders, hungry and aggressive man-eating Sharks as well as a raging storm represented by a Hurricane in the top left of the painting.
The five secondary focal points are as follows: The first are the aggressive, man-eating sharks swirling the tiny lifeboat swimming in the raging waters that are dark with blood. Second are the flying fish that are flying northwest, away from the slave ship in the top-left and also the Hurricane in the top right. Third is the impending Hurricane on the distant horizon, the top-right of the painting, forecasting troubling and dangerous times ahead. Fourth, the large sailing vessel or ship on the distant horizon in the top-right of the painting is a major focal point although it is small in size as compared to the other important focal points.
Fifth and lastly, the waters themselves are a major focal point because they help to set the tone of the painting. The roaring, raging waters, dark with the freshly spilled blood of the shark’s victims convey a strong feeling of danger and peril for the black man escaping slavery.
The title of this beautiful work by Winslow Homer, “The Gulf Stream” is direct and to the point and serves as informative to the viewer, whether experienced or oblivious, explaining through art what took place during the Atlantic slave trade between Africa and the Americas, when traveling through the Gulf Stream to get to the New World.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig. 1. Winslow Homer, The Gulf Stream, 1889, Oil on canvas 71.4 x 124.8 cm