Leaping Trout (Adirondacks) - Winslow Homer
Archival giclée
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Description
A detailed watercolour study of a trout leaping from dark water, painted by Winslow Homer in 1889 during his time in the Adirondack Mountains.
Winslow Homer produced this watercolour during his frequent visits to the Adirondack Mountains in New York State. By the late 1880s, Homer had moved away from his earlier illustrative work for magazines, focusing instead on the direct observation of nature. This piece captures a specific moment of action: a trout breaking the surface of the water to catch an insect.
The composition relies on the contrast between the fish and the dark, moody water. Homer uses a muted palette of deep greens, greys, and browns to suggest the depth and stillness of the mountain lake. The fish itself is rendered with precise, controlled brushwork, showing the subtle colouration of its scales and fins. The surrounding water is handled with looser, more fluid washes, creating a sense of movement and ripples that disrupt the reflection of the dark forest above.
Homer was an avid outdoorsman, and his time in the Adirondacks provided him with ample subject matter for his watercolour practice. Unlike his larger oil paintings, these works were often completed on-site, allowing him to capture the atmospheric conditions of the wilderness with immediacy. The focus here is not on the human experience of fishing, but on the animal itself within its environment. The work demonstrates his technical mastery of the medium, particularly in his ability to manage transparency and layering to achieve the dark, murky quality of the water. This print offers a clear view of Homer's approach to natural history and his ability to isolate a single, fleeting event in the natural world.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Leaping Trout (Adirondacks) - Winslow Homer
Artist Biography
Winslow Homer
He moved from illustration to painting without formal training, learning oil technique largely by observation. His early paintings are genre scenes of rural American life: children playing, women on croquet lawns, the kind of post-war pastoral that the public wanted. They sold well. He was dissatisfied with them.
In 1881 he went to Cullercoats, a fishing village in northeast England, and spent two years painting the women who waited on the shore for the fishing boats to return. The Cullercoats paintings are darker, more dramatic, and more serious than anything he had made before. The sea became his subject.
He moved to Prouts Neck, Maine, in 1883 and lived there, mostly alone, for the rest of his life. The Maine paintings, The Gulf Stream, Northeaster, Right and Left, are about the confrontation between human beings and the ocean. The figures are small. The water is enormous. The light is cold. He painted the sea the way Constable painted clouds: from direct observation, over years, until he understood its behaviour.
His watercolours, made on fishing trips to the Adirondacks, Florida, and the Bahamas, are freer and more experimental than the oils. Tropical sunlight and clear water brought out colours he did not use in Maine. He died in 1910, at seventy-four.
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