Study for 'Rocky Coast and Gulls'

Winslow Homer's ink and graphite sketch captures a rocky shoreline with bathers and figures scattered across sandy beach and stone outcroppings. The composition emphasizes spatial recession through layered geological forms and distant water, with small figures providing human scale. Homer's economical line work and tonal studies demonstrate his interest in coastal leisure scenes—subjects that would occupy him throughout his career. This preparatory drawing shows the artist working out compositional relationships before translating the motif to finished canvas, a common practice in nineteenth-century studio practice.