Winslow Homer: Painter, Etcher Reunites Paintings and Prints at Portland Museum of Art

The Portland Museum of Art (PMA) presents "Winslow Homer: Painter, Etcher," the first major exhibition devoted entirely to the artist's etchings, on view from July 3 to October 18, 2026. Curated by Ramey Mize, the show reunites rarely seen prints with the paintings and watercolors that inspired them, tracing Homer's iterative process across media. Homer settled in Scarborough, Maine, in the early 1880s and collaborated with Brooklyn-based printer George W. H. Ritchie, shuttling copper plates and proofs between his Prouts Neck studio and New York. The exhibition displays multiple states and proofs side by side, revealing how compositions tightened and shifted. Iconic works such as "The Life Line" (1884), "Eight Bells" (1887), and "Perils of the Sea" appear in both painted and etched forms. The show is the result of five years of research, tracking down proofs from public and private collections across the country. PMA director Mark Bessire framed the exhibition as Homer's homecoming, bringing the works back to the Maine coastline that shaped them.