The Gulf Stream by Winslow Homer (1899)

The Gulf Stream by Winslow Homer (1899)

"What is freedom? Is it the bare privilege of not being chained?... If this is all, then freedom is a bitter mockery, a cruel delusion." - James A. Garfield

The Scene

At the center of the canvas lies a black man on a boat, it's mast destroyed and the ship directionless. He is lost at sea, and surrounding him in the dark waters are sharks ready to attack. The man sits on his back stoically as he gazes out across the ocean. Far in the distance we see a ship to our left and a swirling cyclone to the right. 

What happened to this poor man? How close is he to shore? What will be his fate? Will he be saved by the passing ship or ripped apart by the sharks? Will he make it safely to shore or will he be swallowed by the incoming storm?

Every time I look at this painting my mind floods with these questions and a sinking feeling overwhelms me. It's a stunning piece by one of the finest painters in American history. Truly an iconic work.

My Interpretation

While the piece can be taken quite literally, which I think may have been Winslow's intention, my mind goes elsewhere. 

For me this work is a representation of American Reconstruction. Where the man at the center is the newly freed slaves, the sharks are hostile whites, and the treacherous ocean is Black America's newfound freedom. He is undoubtedly thirsty, but this water is salty and deceiving. His captain - an absent symbol of the antebellum plantation owner - has gone overboard. Swallowed by the previous storm, or in this case the Civil War. The shore isn't in frame either. An unseen representation of the North, where things are safer but still uncertain and dangerous.

In the distance the foggy ship is the promise of a better tomorrow. The hope that one day equality and suffrage will be attained. While the raging storm to the right symbolizes the backlash and suffering that may arise in the coming years.

Seeing it through this lens, the painting becomes even more heartbreaking. By telling myself this story, I now know this man's fate.

That's just my vision though. The beauty of art is that it's open to any interpretation you give it. It doesn't matter what the critics say, or even what the artist's original intentions were. Look at it, hear it, touch it, sing it, experience it. And whatever comes to mind is your own personal truth. Nobody can take that feeling away from you.

What do you see in this piece?

- ZB James