A Huntsman and Dogs, 1891 (oil on canvas)

Renowned artist Winslow Homer was an avid sportsman and his outdoor subjects reflect an unsentimental view of the conflict between man and nature. In this scene set in the Adirondack region of New York State, earthen colours link the hunter and the environment, making it difficult to distinguish the man from the hill behind him. Homer visited the Adirondacks as one of many vacationers who flocked there in the late nineteenth century. The huntsman in Homer’s painting is not a visitor but rather a local trapper or guide who has caught a deer and is carrying off its pelt, antlers, and, likely, a pack full of meat.