Signal of Distress

In December 1890Winslow Homer wrote to his brother Charles, “I have got a fine picture called The Distress Signal a scene in mid ocean.” The painter was referring to the work in the Museo Thyssen- Bornemisza, which depicts a moment of great tension on the high sea. The whole composition is structured in such a way to exaggerate the dramatic force of the moment as much as possible. Both the very hi…