Winslow Homer, now forty-six, has commenced his period of greatest artistic growth in Tynemouth.

He is intrigued by the life of the hardy fisherfolk of Tynemouth, who struggle against the sea to earn their livelihood, but he does not paint that struggle directly.

He depicts instead the robust and courageous women of Tynemouth, who mend the nets, keep house, and wait for their men to return from the sea.

The English coastal atmosphere poses a new and difficult artistic challenge, but Homer masters the diffused light, limited in color but infinitely varied in tone, in a series of subtle watercolors.