Right and Left

A pair of ducks beats the air with wings outstretched, caught above a rough stretch of gray-green sea under a clouded sky. The birds seem suspended mid-flight, their bodies tilted as if reacting to something unseen below them, while the water churns in heavy swells beneath. This oil painting was completed in 1909 and is held at the National Gallery of Art. Winslow Homer (1836–1910) worked in the realist tradition and also painted Autumn Tree Tops. One detail worth noticing is how the choppy texture of the waves contrasts with the smooth curve of the ducks' wings, giving the scene a sense of sudden motion against the heavier, slower movement of the ocean below.