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At the Ann and Graham Gund Gallery at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Many of Winslow Homer’s light-sensitive watercolor paintings are being displayed together for the first time in 50 years. The MFA Boston has the largest collection of Homer works in the world, and this new exhibition provides a comprehensive overview of his style and the technical aspects of watercolor painting.

Upon walking down the stairs to the gallery, one is greeted with a wall projection depicting various scenes that inspired Homer’s paintings. The display is complete with sounds of waves crashing against the beach and the chirping of crickets, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the natural landscape that surrounded Homer as he sketched.

The exhibition’s first gallery introduces visitors to some of Homer’s most famous pieces, including “Leaping Trout” — the highlight of the room. It was the first Homer watercolor that the museum bought, and its place at the beginning of the exhibition allows for an incredible first impression of Homer as an artist. The intense blue of the water and night sky draw viewers’ eyes into the void, where they are met with pinks and purples gracing the bellies of the fish and the underside of a water lily. Vibrant colors also lurk under the ripples of the water and in the background, transporting one into a dream-like scene.

In the center of the room is a panel that explains Homer’s most used techniques and materials, complete with a set of his brushes and pigments borrowed from the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. This display invites visitors to analyze Homer’s paintings more deeply, even if they were not previously well-versed in his style.

Following this inauguration into the world of Homer, one comes across a gallery titled “Origins,” which describes Homer’s early career and influences. Featured are works of Henrietta Benson Homer, his mother, who first introduced him to watercolor. Her study of two monarch butterflies is placed next to “Trout Breaking,” which notably includes a depiction of butterflies. Seeing works of Homer side-by-side with those of his mentor is instructive, strengthening the educational mission of the exhibition. Though the collection of early illustrations on the opposite wall is also informative, it is difficult to distinguish unifying traits from the jumble of closely placed frames.

The next gallery, “Transitions,” is aptly named, as it chronicles Homer’s shift from portrayals of war to more pastoral scenes. Most of these paintings are less memorable, though “The Dove Cote” and “Long Branch, New Jersey” are noteworthy oil paintings which capture uniquely human experiences; the former illustrating the life of Black people post-Emancipation and the latter representing middle-class vacationers. Near the exit of the room is “Rocky Coast and Gulls,” one of Homer’s earlier seascapes, foreshadowing the more intense beach scenes to come later in the exhibition. A group of gulls in the center of the frame mirrors a white spray of water in the top right, hinting at dynamism beyond the rocks. Visitors meet more of this dynamic intensity in the next gallery, “Atlantic Shores.”

Homer’s travels took him to Gloucester, Florida, Cuba, Bermuda, the Cullercoats, and, more importantly, Prouts Neck, Maine. In the center of the room is a nod to Homer’s Prouts Neck studio, with a recreation of the veranda on which he worked; the curators traveled there when planning the exhibition. “The Fog Warning” attracts the gaze with its size and moody, tense shading. Aquamarine undertones in the water and pinkish highlights on the bodies of the fish lend more realism to the painting, allowing viewers to relate to the fisherman’s dilemma: whether or not to heed the warning of the ship in the distance.

Again in this gallery, the curators teach visitors about various technical aspects of watercolor painting, including the fact that watercolor pigments are quite delicate and subject to fading. There is an interactive exhibit related to “Clamming,” where one lifts a replica of a mat and peeks beneath, the corners and edges of the painting revealing the original colors of the work. Paired with the veranda, this part of the gallery brings visitors closer to understanding Homer’s artistic process.

As one enters the next room, “The North Woods,” the deep green color of the walls feels like the center of a forest, the physical space recreating the subject of many of Homer’s paintings — the Adirondacks. In “The Adirondacks Guide,” Homer depicts his friend Rufus Wallace, a woodsman who had died prior to the creation of the painting. The background of the piece is less defined, as Homer plays with washes of color to emphasize Wallace, who is looking off in the distance. One wonders what caused him to turn around and notices that Homer often leaves the narrative of a painting up to interpretation. Many works in this room have literal titles, like “The Fallen Deer” and “Hunting Dog among Dead Tree” — named exactly for what is figured. The museum invites viewers to decipher each snapshot of nature.

The real focus of “The North Woods” is not in the gallery, but rather the room into which the green walls give way. The last room is decorated with the phrase “Turn, turn, tumble… tumble, tumble, turn…” — a quote that was written on the walls of Homer’s Prouts Neck studio. The phrase evokes the harsh turbulence of the ocean, which is encapsulated in “Driftwood,” the last oil painting Homer created before dying. Viewers may be uncertain about the motivation behind the scene, in which a mysterious figure looks over the foamy waves violently slamming onto the beach. The painting is captivating, making one feel like they are dangerously leaning over a log, watching the tumultuousness of life and the flow of both water and time. The waves crashing that one hears before entering the gallery rings in one’s ears, as Homer’s masterful brushstrokes reveal one last snapshot in time.

“Of Light and Air: Winslow Homer in Watercolor” will be on view through Jan. 19, 2026.