by Winslow Homer, 1899
Winslow Homer painted a Black sailor adrift on a dismasted boat surrounded by sharks in the Gulf Stream. A waterspout threatens on the horizon while a ship sails away, apparently oblivious. The man lies exhausted but watchful, his fate uncertain.
The painting provoked controversy and endless interpretation. Some saw commentary on the African American experience after slavery's end, others pure man-versus-nature drama. Homer refused to explain, saying only "you may let your imagination loose" about whether the ship rescues him. The deep blue water and circling sharks create almost unbearable tension.
The painting hangs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Ancient Greek (Unknown), -500
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Ancient Greek (Unknown), -390
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Diego Velázquez
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Ancient Egyptian (Unknown), -1070
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Other masterpieces from the American Realism movement

Grant Wood, 1930
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

Edward Hopper, 1942
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

John Singer Sargent, 1886
Tate Britain, London

Georgia O'Keeffe, 1930
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

John Singer Sargent, 1884
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Eastman Johnson, 1862
Brooklyn Museum, New York

John Singer Sargent, 1882
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston

George Bellows, 1924
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
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