The Flirt

Winslow Homer painted The Flirt in 1874, while he was becoming a major artist of modern American life. He began his career as an illustrator and reported on the Civil War for Harper's Weekly. That work taught him how to tell a clear story through a single image. After the war, Homer spent more time painting in oils and continued to focus on ordinary people and current life. This small painting was made before he lived in an English fishing village and turned more of his attention toward life at sea. It is an early example of the direct storytelling that remained important throughout his career.