The Story of Homer's The Life Line
and the Inspiration for Creating Surrender
When the painting is completed in 1884 it is a sensation. In the original, Homer depicts a woman succumbed to overwhelming circumstances. Her rescuer’s face is completely obscured by a billowing bright red scarf, blending him with the sea in the anonymity of the forces beyond which she has no control or influence. She has barely enough strength to loosely wrap one hand around a rope and cross her ankles. Such expression of modesty may be instinctive or simply grasping at one tiny attempt to do something - no matter how futile or useless to impose some control over the situation. In 1884 there are a few critics who complain of the sexual mood of wet clinging dress and exposed knees -- content that usually excluded a painting from any reputable gallery, yet the compromise of virtuosity is the very element that depicts the desperation of the moment and the overwhelming power of the forces at work.
In his version Homer covers the man’s face to emphasize the loneliness and desperation of the human experience, focusing the painting on the woman’s helplessness in the hands of a rescuer that is no more than an impersonalized force like the ocean itself. In her half frozen, half drown and half conscious state, her eyes are closed as if in an attempt to hide. Perhaps there is no conscious surrender to God in Homer’s intent. Maybe there is no trust or faith implied, simply surrender to a force that is overwhelming. Homer’s anonymous rescuer is a man braving the uncertainty and wrath of a violent sea that has already smashed a mighty ship. The rescuer has surrendered to God, apparently trusting his life, the life of his family and those that depend on him in everyday life to a higher power in order to follow a path of service, but he is not the helpless one, he is the character action hero and Homer does not let his story enter into the scene by painting the blowing scarf over his face. While the bold starkness of The Life Line conforms to Homer’s real life experience on the coast of Maine, I find it incomplete in its depiction of surrender. Even though Homer reveals the great loneliness and desperation of being an individual (a drop soul) in moments when our separation from God is most obvious, I feel the need for resolution -- a painting to complete the moment.
Advancing from Homer’s original I open her eyes and unveil the Face of God and thus add a concluding moment to the story, like advancing a reel of film to the next frame to find her spiritual transformation. In the reality behind the illusion there is no danger and no need to worry - that is only part of the illusion that comes with being and individual shackled by the blinders of our ego. Even in suffering there is new endurance and purpose in the realization that comes with complete surrender. With eyes open and focus on God, God is the ocean, the rescuer, the storm, the rocky shoreline and the rescued. Even at the extreme of desperation, even in death, there is hope, survival and the warmth of love when there is surrender. After surrendering and in the comfort and safety of our everyday lives, grace provides us with a new focus beyond the illusion and a chance to best our efforts towards what is most important in life as we serve God and not ourselves.
Off-Site Links for Winslow Homer
To see Homer Winslow's The Life Line, click here (requires Java applet) or click here.
A Gallery of Winslow Homer paintings,
click here.
For Winslow Homer on the Interent,
click here.
While Winslow Homer is well known for his paintings, he revolutionized painting through his devotion to watercolors.
I usually do not recommend purchasing books, but if you are a watercolor artist or enthusiast
there is a recent book, The Watercolors of Winslow Homer by Miles Unger, that is worth buying,
or at least checking out through your local library.
Click here for the Amazon.com review, or
click here for publishers description.
