The Herring Net
Winslow Homer, 1885
Two men lift a net of silver in a dark sea. Work, not romance. The fish are the only light. The boat is a job that can kill you.
About this work
The Herring Net is one of three paintings of local fishermen that Winslow Homer completed at Prouts Neck, Maine, in 1885, alongside The Fog Warning and Lost on the Grand Banks; they are considered among his best works on the subject. Homer had settled at Prouts Neck after a stay in 1881–82 at Cullercoats, a fishing village in northeast England, and in Maine he returned to painting the sea with more serious themes: the hard and dangerous working lives of fishermen and their families. Here two fishermen in a small dory haul a net heavy with herring over the side in a rolling swell, the catch filling the bottom of the boat, while the sails of the fishing fleet show faintly through the mist behind them. The painting belongs to the Art Institute of Chicago, which dates it to 1885 and gives its size as 76.5 × 122.9 cm (30⅛ × 48⅜ in); it is part of the Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection.
Sources: Wikipedia: The Fog Warning · Art Institute of Chicago · Wikimedia Commons
Print facts
- Native resolution
- 7,001 × 4,292 px
- Sharp at 150 ppi up to
- 46 × 28 in
- Sizes
- Small (20 × 12 in) · $100 · 350 ppi
Medium (24 × 15 in) · $150 · 286 ppi
Large (36 × 22 in) · $300 · 194 ppi - Price includes
- Frame and US shipping · 14–21 days · 30-day returns
FAQ
Where can I buy a framed print of The Herring Net?
Here. The Herring Net is available as a framed print in three sizes: Small (20 × 12 in) for $100, Medium (24 × 15 in) for $150 and Large (36 × 22 in) for $300. Prices include the frame and US shipping; delivery takes 14–21 days, with 30-day returns.
What size works best for The Herring Net?
The file is 7,001 × 4,292 px, so every size is sharp: even Large (36 × 22 in) prints at 194 ppi. Choose Large (36 × 22 in) for a large wall; Small (20 × 12 in) suits a narrower space.
Is it legal to print The Herring Net?
Yes. The Herring Net is in the public domain: its copyright, if it ever had one, expired long ago. In the United States a faithful photograph of a public-domain painting does not create a new copyright (Bridgeman v. Corel, 1999), so the image can be printed and sold freely.
