Winslow Homer was best known for his wonderful artwork. He painted many famous paintings and much of his work was done in the state of Maine.

Winslow Homer was born in 1836 in Boston, Massachusetts. His father worked in the hardware business and his mother, who was from Maine, loved to paint. While Winslow went to school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he often would draw pictures in his notebook instead of doing his schoolwork. He also learned to love the outdoors.

When Winslow was 19 he got a job as an artist drawing sketches for the covers of magazines. After a couple of years doing this he decided to work on his own and did some work for a famous New York magazine. He decided to move to New York and continue to work as an artist. When the Civil War was going on he did some work for the magazine, Harpers Weekly as an artist. He painted many pictures of the war and became quite well known.

For several years he moved around and painted a lot of different things. He visited Europe and came back to New York. He then went to England and learned to love the rugged outdoors. This became his favorite art topic. In the 1880's he came back to the United States. In 1884 he moved to Prout's Neck in Scarborough, Maine. He set up a studio there and began painting. He loved it there and that is where he spent the rest of his days.

He enjoyed painting coastal scenes and found the people of Maine very interesting. He became famous for his paintings of Maine places and people. He painted many paintings that now are in museums around the world.

Homer worked at Prout's neck for many years. Some people thought he was unfriendly because he didn't seem to like to talk a lot about himself. The people of Prout's Neck thought that he was friendly to them however.

He died at his studio in 1910.

Adams, Herb and Verde, Tom. Maine's Claim to Fame. Augusta: Maine Department of Education, date on publication not available.