Girl Reading On A Stone Porch 1872

Winslow Homer painted "Girl Reading on a Stone Porch" using oil on canvas, a familiar medium for the time. But let’s consider the materiality here. The setting is roughly hewn, the stone porch speaking to the labor of quarrying and construction, an implicit contrast to the girl’s pink dress and absorbed leisure. The white apron suggests domestic duties, yet here she is, momentarily freed from the demands of work by the book in her hands. Homer uses visible brushstrokes to bring attention to the paint as a substance, drawing attention to the materiality and the way it reflects the world. The visible brushstrokes capture the rough texture of the stone porch and the softness of the girl's dress, heightening our awareness of these distinct tactile experiences. Looking closely at the artwork, we realize Homer wants us to notice both the girl's interior world of reading and the material conditions that surround her. By emphasizing the material nature of the scene, Homer blurs the boundaries between the artistic experience and the everyday world.