Shepherdess

Shepherdess — Winslow Homer. c. 1878.

Medium: charcoal with brush and brown wash, heightened with white chalk; framing lines in graphite. Dimensions: Sheet: 41.8 x 25.8 cm (16 7/16 x 10 3/16 in.); Image: 41 x 24.1 cm (16 1/8 x 9 1/2 in.).

Collection record: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

Homer spent the summer of 1878 at Mountainsville, New York, where his brother's business partner, Lawson Valentine, had a country place called Houghton Farm. While there he developed pastoral images of shepherdesses. The flirtatious quality of these depictions becomes intriguing when we consider that Homer never married, and that he worked not only from female models but also sometimes from boys in girls' clothing.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.