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We look onto two black-headed ducks twisting and flailing midair against a slate-gray landscape in this horizontal painting. The silvery white body of the bird to our left faces us as its neck twists to our left, its black wings extended. The bird to our right falls with its head facing down, its gray wings partially contracted and its legs splayed. The landscape behind them is made up of a sliver of golden amber along the top edge above three wider bands of steel gray that darken toward the bottom of the canvas. A spray of turquoise near the bottom center of the painting indicates that the gray bands are cresting waves. Seen in the distance beyond the feet of the left bird, a gray smudge suggests smoke obscuring a man wearing a gray garment and vivid orange cap. His elbows are raised, presumably holding a shotgun. He sits in a long brown canoe that rides near the crest of the middle wave.

Right and Left, 1909

Winslow Homer

West Building, Main Floor - Gallery 68

Right and Left refers to the shooting of two birds, one just after the other, with a double barreled shotgun. Winslow Homer may have seen hunters perform this feat at sea near his studio overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Prouts Neck, Maine.

Homer depicts a hunter firing at a pair of goldeneye ducks from a boat behind the bird at left. Small details heighten the drama: the flash of red from the gun, the sliver of sun on the horizon, and a loose feather floating in the air. The hunter’s gun points out toward the viewer — and the artist. Painted near the end of Homer’s life, the work is filled with references to mortality.

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Right and Left, painted a year before the artist's death, is the culminating achievement of Winslow Homer's extraordinary career. The title, provided by a viewer during the work's first public showing, refers to the act of shooting the ducks successively with separate barrels of a shotgun. Some scholars have suggested that the dull expression, the slackened feet, and the diving posture of the duck on the right indicate that it is the one which has been hit by the hunter's initial blast. Its mate is attempting to escape the second shot which has just been fired—as evidenced by the vermilion flash and billowing gray smoke barely visible at the middle left. Yet the downward posture may be an effective escape maneuver, while the arrested motion of the duck on the left might indicate that it is the one which has been hit. Homer may have conveyed an ambiguous message deliberately, in order to illustrate that crucial moment of transition between life and death.

We witness the scene from the ducks' elevated vantage point, a precarious perspective that encourages empathy with the threatened creatures. By underscoring the fleeting nature of these birds' existence, Homer reminds viewers of the fragility of their own.

More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I, pages 327-333, which is available as a free PDF.

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Object Data

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 71.8 x 122.9 cm (28 1/4 x 48 3/8 in.)

framed: 105.4 x 156.8 x 10.2 cm (41 1/2 x 61 3/4 x 4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of the Avalon Foundation

Accession Number

1951.8.1

Artists / Makers

Winslow Homer (artist) American, 1836 - 1910

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Detail Information

Inscription

lower right: HOMER / 1909

Provenance

Consigned by the artist January 1909 to (M. Knoedler & Co., New York); sold by 3 August 1909 to Randal Morgan [1854-1926], Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania; by inheritance to his wife, Mrs. Randal Morgan, Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania; consigned 1950 to (M. Knoedler & Co., New York);[1] purchased 11 July 1951 by NGA.

[1] "MK [M. Knoedler] has from Mrs. R. M. [Right and Left] to net her . . . July 1950" (Doll & Richards records, box 53, Archives of American Art, Washington, D.C.).

Associated Names

Knoedler & Company, M.
Knoedler & Company, M.
Morgan, Randal
Morgan, Randal, Mrs.

Exhibition History

1909: The Century Association, New York, 1909 (according to Knoedler invoice, but no catalogue found and no record in Century Association papers).

1910: Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1910, 47, no. 461.

1911: Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Winslow Homer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1911, 25, no. 22.

1936: Winslow Homer Centenary Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1936-1937, 23, no. 34.

1936: Winslow Homer, Pennsylvania Museum of Art, 1936, no. 30, repro.

1937: Centenary Exhibition of Works of Winslow Homer, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1937, 20, no. 25.

1939: Art in Our Time, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1939, no. 41.

1944: Sport in American Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1944, no. 66, as Right and Left [Duck Shooting].

1947: A Loan Exhibition of Winslow Homer, Wildenstein & Company, New York, 1947, 35, no. 39.

1947: Masterpieces of Philadelphia Private Collections, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1947, 75, no. 63, as Left and Right.

1948: The Coast and the Sea: A Survey of American Marine Painting, The Brooklyn Museum, 1948-1949, 22, no. 63.

1958: Shooting and Fishing in Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, 1958, no. 17.

1958: Winslow Homer: A Retrospective Exhibition, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1958-1959, 121, no. 78.

1959: A Retrospective Exhibition: Winslow Homer, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1959, 98, no. 72.

1963: Maine and Its Artists, 1710-1963, Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; 1963-1964, 20, no. 64 (shown only in Boston and New York).

1964: Homer and the Sea, The Mariners Museum, Newport News, Virginia; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1964, no. 53.

1967: Seventy-five Masterworks--An Exhibition of Paintings in Honor of the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Portland Art Association, Portland Art Museum, Oregon, 1967-1968, no. 600.

1969: In Memoriam, Ailsa Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1969, unnumbered checklist.

1970: Winslow Homer 1836-1910, William A. Farnsworth Library and Art Museum, Rockland, Maine, 1970, no. 22.

1973: Winslow Homer, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Art Institute of Chicago, 1973, 137, no. 72.

1983: A New World: Masterpieces of American Painting, 1760-1910, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Grand Palais, Paris, 1983-1984, no. 110, repro.

1986: Europa/Amerika: Die Geschichte einer kunstlerischen Faszination seit 1940 (Europe/America: The History of an Artistic Fascination Since 1940), Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 1986, 425, no. 71.

1988: Le Japonisme, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 1988, 293, 320, no. 305.

1990: Reckoning with Winslow Homer: His Late Works and Their Influence, The Cleveland Museum of Art; Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1990-1991, fig. 32, 34, 37-39, 41, 166, 173.

1995: Winslow Homer. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1995-1996, no. 235, repro.

2005: Winslow Homer in the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2005-2006, unnumbered brochure, fig. 10.

Technical Summary

A moderately thin layer of white ground covers a fine, plain-woven fabric support that has been lined. Paint application ranges from thin in the foreground water to multilayered in the ducks, and it displays brushwork throughout. The painting is in good condition. Abrasion of paint in some of the thinner passages and ground, perhaps by the artist, has been inpainted. Discolored varnish was removed and the painting was restored in 1983.

Bibliography

1910: "The Pennsylvania Academy Exhibition." International Studio 40 ( March 1910): 22, repro. 22.

1911: Downes, William Howe. The Life and Works of Winslow Homer. Boston and New York, 1911: 244-245, 258, 282, 286, repro. opp. 244.

1912: Pach, Walter. "Winslow Homer et la Significance de Son Oeuvre." Art in America (November 1912): 76, repro. 77, as Un Coup Double.

1923: Pousette-Dart, Nathaniel. Winslow Homer. In Distinguished American Artists. New York, 1923: 58th repro.

1926: Washburn-Freund, Frank E. "Winslow Homer." Sketch Book Magazine 3 (August 1926): 40, repro. 38.

1932: Bolton, Theodore. "The Art of Winslow Homer: An Estimate." Fine Arts 18 (February 1932): 52, 55.

1936: Clifford, Henry. "Winslow Homer: Oils, Watercolors, and Drawings in the Centennial Exhibit Currently in Philadelphia."Art News 34 (9 May 1936): 6, repro.

1942: Watson, Forbes. Winslow Homer. New York, 1942: repro. 84.

1944: Goodrich, Lloyd. Winslow Homer. New York, 1944: 198, repro. 62.

1946: Baldinger, Wallace S. "The Art of Eakins, Homer and Ryder: A Social Revelation." The Art Quarterly (Summer 1946): 227, repro. 229.

1947: Louchheim, Aline B. "The Main Line Collects: A Chance to See Philadelphia's Privately Owned Masterpieces." Art News 46 (July 1947): 16, repro.

1951: Walker, John. Paintings from America. Harmondsworth, England, 1951: 29, 44, 177, pl. 35.

1952: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 176, color repro.

1959: Goodrich, Lloyd. Winslow Homer. New York, 1959: 31, repro. 177.

1961: Gardner, Albert Ten Eyck. Winslow Homer, American Artist: His World and His Work. New York, 1961: 206, color repro. 92.

1962: Gould, Jean. Winslow Homer: A Portrait. New York, 1962: 289.

1963: Ripley, Elizabeth. Winslow Homer: A Biography. Philadelphia and New York, 1963: 66, 67, repro. 67.

1963: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 337, repro. 328.

1966: Beam, Philip C. Winslow Homer at Prout's Neck. Boston, 1966: 247-249, repro. 248.

1966: Beam, Philip C. Winslow Homer at Prout's Neck. Exh. cat. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine, 1966: n.p.

1966: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:492, color repro.

1966: Flexner, James Thomas. The World of Winslow Homer, 1836-1910. New York, 1966: 180-181, color repro. 180-181.

1968: Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 158, color repro.

1968: Wilmerding, John. A History of American Marine Painting. Salem, Massachusetts, 1968: 222, repro. 224.

1970: American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 70, repro.

1971: Cott, Perry B. "The Alisa Mellon Bruce Gifts." The Connoisseur 178, no. 718 (December 1971): 249, 258, repro. 257.

1972: Wilmerding, John. Winslow Homer. New York, 1972: 168, 172, 177, color repro. 206.

1973: Hyman, Linda. Winslow Homer: America's Old Master. New York, 1973: 87, 89, repro. 88.

1975: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 559, no. 847, color repro.

1976: Stein, Roger B. "Structure as Meaning: Towards a Cultural Interpretation of American Painting." American Art Review 3 (March-April 1976): 74-76, color repro. 77.

1976: Wilmerding, John. American Art. Hammondsworth, England, and New York, 1976: 136, pl. 163.

1977: Young, Mahonri Sharp. American Realists: Homer to Hopper. New York, 1977: 34, repro. 41.

1979: Hendricks, Gordon. The Life and Work of Winslow Homer. New York, 1979: 246-247, 260, 268, 277, 283, color repro. 260-262.

1979: Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 125, pl. 112.

1980: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 11, 177, repro.

1980: Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 10, 15, no. 35, color repro.

1980: Wilmerding, John. "Winslow Homer's Right and Left." In Studies in the History of Art 9 (1980): 59-85, color repro. 60, repro. 83.

1981: Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: color repro. 158, 173, repro. 176.

1983: Adams, Henry. "Mortal Themes: Winslow Homer." Art in America 71 (February 1983): 122, color repro. 126.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 557, no. 844, color repro.

1985: McEwen, John. "Audubon and His Legacy." Art in America 73 (September 1985): 106, 108, color repro. 101.

1986: Cooper, Helen A. Winslow Homer Watercolors. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven. Washington, D.C., 1986: 184, 239.

1986: Judge, Mary A. Winslow Homer. New York, 1986: 86, 89, 92, color repro. 88.

1987: Wilmerding, John. American Marine Painting. Rev. ed. of A History of American Marine Painting, 1968. New York, 1987: 160, color repro. 161.

1988: Scully, Vincent. "Winslow Homer and the Waters." Architectural Digest 45 (April 1988): 214, color repro. 210.

1988: Simpson, Marc. Winslow Homer: Paintings of the Civil War. San Francisco, 1988: 48, 181, repro. 182.

1988: Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 18-19, 124, no. 39, color repro. 125.

1989: Reed, Christopher. "The Artist and the Other: The Work of Winslow Homer." Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (Spring 1989): 76.

1990: Cikovsky, Nicolai, Jr. "Homer around 1900." In Winslow Homer: A Symposium. Edited by Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr. In Studies in the History of Art 26 (1990): 146.

1990: Cikovsky, Nicolai, Jr. Winslow Homer. New York, 1990: 128, 135, 136, 140, 144, 146, color repro. 144.

1990: Cikovsky, Nicolai, Jr. "Winslow Homer's Unfinished Business." Studies in the History of Art 37 (1990): 113.

1990: Robertson, Bruce. Reckoning with Winslow Homer: His Late Works and Their Influence. Cleveland, 1990: 34, 37-39, 41, 173, repro. 39.

1990: Tatham, David. "Winslow Homer at the North Woods Club." In Winslow Homer: A Symposium. Edited by Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr. In Studies in the History of Art 26 (1990): 126, repro. 127.

1990: Wilmerding, John and Linda Ayres. Winslow Homer in the 1870's: Selections from the Valentine-Pulsifer Collection. Exh. cat. The Art Museum, Princeton University; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford. Princeton, 1990: 16.

1990: Young, Mahonri Sharp. "Letter from the USA. The Prophet of Prout's Neck." Apollo 132 (December 1990): repro. 425.

1991: Wilmerding, John. American Views: Essays on American Art. Princeton, 1991: 37, 48, 208, 223-243, repro. 224, color repro. no. 17, details 240-241.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 205, repro.

1992: National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 247, repro.

1992: Wilkinson, Todd. "Portraits of a Sporting Past." Ducks Unlimited 56 (September-October 1992): 47-48, repro. 46-47.

1995: Winslow Homer. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1995-1996: no. 235.

1996: Kelly, Franklin, with Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Deborah Chotner, and John Davis. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 327-333, color repro.

1997: Little, Carl. Winslow Homer: His Art, His Light, His Landscapes, California, 1997, p. 172-173, repro.

2004: Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 325, no. 263, color repro.

2008: Miller, Angela et al. American Encounters: Art, History, and Cultural Identity. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2008: 364-365, color fig. 11.7.

2009: Gariff, David, Eric Denker, and Dennis P. Weller. The World's Most Influential Painters and the Artists They Inspired. Hauppauge, NY, 2009: 121, color repro.

2012: Brock, Charles. “George Bellows: An Unfinished Life.” In George Bellows ed. Charles Brock (Exh. cat. Washington 2012). Munich, 2012: 11, color fig. 2.

2021: Donovan, Patricia A. "Permanence in This Changing World: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Endowment Challenge Grant." Art for the Nation no. 64 (Fall 2021): 2-3, repro.