Under a Palm Tree

1884

Death of his mother

In 1884 Homer's mother died: his first teacher and the strongest influence on him. After her death he became a “parent” to his ageing but domineering father, and his sister-in-law Martha (“Mattie”) became his closest female intimate.

winter 1884 – 1885

Florida, Cuba and the Bahamas

In the winter of 1884–1885 Homer travelled to Florida, Cuba and the Bahamas, painting a series of watercolours commissioned by Century Magazine: the storm-tossed green sea of Prouts Neck gave way to the sparkling blue skies of the Caribbean, and for Edith Blake, wife of the governor of the Bahamas, he painted “Children Under a Palm Tree”. “A Garden in Nassau” (1885) is one of the best of these watercolours, but they proved too advanced for traditional buyers.

1888–1903

Trips to Key West

Between 1888 and 1903 Homer frequently visited Key West, Florida; some of his best-known works, “A Norther, Key West”, “The Gulf Stream”, “Taking on Wet Provisions” and “Palms in the Storm”, are said to have been produced there.