Winslow HomerAmerican, 1836–1910A Sick Chicken
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “A Sick Chicken” now? Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Washington, D.C., United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1994.59.21
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- National Gallery of Art
- Image: National Gallery of Art — Museum open access
In the life of Winslow Homer
The whole lifesummer 1873
Summer in Gloucester: watercolour begins
In the summer of 1873 in Gloucester Homer began painting in watercolour regularly, naturally and confidently from the start; critics were puzzled at first (“A child with an ink bottle could not have done worse”), but the watercolours sold more readily and considerably improved his finances. From then on he seldom travelled without paper, brushes and water-based paints.
1875
Gives up illustration for painting
In 1875 Homer, after nearly twenty years as an illustrator, quit commercial illustration and vowed to live on his paintings and watercolours alone. Despite his excellent critical reputation, his finances remained precarious.
1876
The Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia
“Snap the Whip” and “Breezing Up” were shown at the Centennial Exposition; the New York Tribune wrote that it could not remember a picture in any exhibition that could be named alongside “Breezing Up”. Henry James confessed that he detested Homer's subjects of the time, yet “to reward his audacity, he has incontestably succeeded”.
c. 1876
Visits to Virginia
Around 1876 Homer visited Petersburg, Virginia (apparently to see what had become of the lives of former slaves), and painted rural African American life, the most unaffected views of it at the time, such as “Dressing for the Carnival” (1877).
![Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/8f29e3c9-a289-4d53-abf0-31a66e9e98fa/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/ff62e8d0-45c4-498f-ad36-6358de827e04/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
