SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Winslow Homer was a private man who crafted a workspace to reflect that. From the road, only a solitary window can be seen. But from the beach, his studio in Prout’s Neck offers lavish views of the heaving Atlantic.
The studio of this stalwart painter on Prout’s Neck looks like a painting itself. A transfigured carriage house now punctuated in lush coffee and earth tones became an artist’s dream, a space to meditate, reflect and paint. Built by Alonzo Googins and renovated by Portland architect John Calvin Stevens in 1884, the carriage house anchored Homer’s artistic practice for his final 26 years. To give him the privacy the reclusive bachelor demanded, the structure was moved 100 feet from the Homer family summer cottage known as the Ark.
It is an architectural prize painstakingly restored by the Portland Museum of Art, which is offering tours through October. Though a quick jaunt from downtown Portland, the studio is well shrouded.
The mansard roof, 1,500 square-foot, two-story studio stands alone in this gated summer community as a significant artifact of summer’s past. What was once considered humble would be swank artist digs now.
“He cherished the view from this vantage point, and it served as the impetus for some of his most dramatic scenes of the Maine coast, such as 1894’s ‘Weatherbeaten,’” said Diana Greenwold, a curatorial fellow at the Portland Museum of Art, where the nautical, naturalistic painting is on display.
The museum spent multiple years renovating Homer’s studio, reopening it to the public in 2012. Guests can tour the space and bask in the sea and sense of place this shelter provided the artist. It’s a rewarding experience for students of art and architecture.
From warehouses to barns to dank urban basements, artists’ studios are as diverse as those who occupy them. What do working studios say about artists? For Homer, whose constant muse was the Atlantic and its interaction with the rugged shore of Maine, the studio was the perfect aerie.
The wrap-around piazza protruding from the sloped mansard roof offers inspiring views of the sea. Like the studio, it’s done in Stevens’ signature shingle style.
“Stevens was a major proponent of this style, based in New England vernacular architecture, throughout his career,” said Greenwold, who calls it a “Charles Eastlake-inspired chamfered braced structure akin to architect Richard Morris Hunt’s 1876 Appleton House in Newport.”
Witnessing decades of harsh Maine winters, the studio has had its share of upgrades. Many of the shingles on the roof have been replaced.
“It was likely post and beam but subsequently reinforced with steel armature during the [Portland Museum of Art]’s extensive renovation,” said Greenwold.
Stevens added a chimney in his first set of changes to the carriage house in 1884 before Homer moved in. A painting room was constructed on the north side of the house a few years later. Here the prolific artist would bring to life in oil the watercolors he sketched plein air on the rocks. His factory, as he called it, is responsible for some of the best works of his life. Though no paintings are on view in the studio, guests get a window into the man that not much is known about.
The studio has been a chief place for historians to find clues.
Written on the wooden walls are poetic musings such as “Oh what a friend chance can be when it chooses.” Other legible notes inscribed by Homer’s hand are fees he paid models. Many locals such as John Gatchell, a local handyman who struggled with alcoholism, posed here. Under Homer’s creative eye, he became a rugged seamen and is believed to appear in many of the artist’s famous works such as his 1886 oil painting “Eight Bells.”
Guests can visit the main room and see the giant hearth where he cooked meals and kept his studio warm year-round. The hearth replaced the double-wide doors designed for horses to enter the structure.
“The large central hearth is a key feature in early American architecture and one that Stevens frequently employed in his domestic structures,” said Greenwold.
A crane overhead hangs from the ceiling. Homer used the primitive device to cook meat over open flames.
“He really simplified his life here,” said Joan Havens, studio docent.
The upper room with exposed beams and entrance to the piazza and ocean beyond feels like the interior of a barn. It’s not known if he painted here or just relaxed and pondered his next work.
Though the studio’s clean lines and straight walls are a testament to construction and rehabilitation, the main feature is the sea. He visited nearby outcroppings like Cannon Rock and turned the scenes into museum mainstays.
If you’ve ever wanted to step into a Homer painting to feel the seabreeze and thrashing waves, this is as close as one can get.
Tours of Winslow Homer’s Studio run until the end of October. For more information, visit http://www.portlandmuseum.org/homer.
