In this painting, a young mother with her son and daughter wait for their husband and father to return from his fishing expedition. Homer spent the summer in late 1800’s in Gloucester, Massachusetts, a storied and historic New England fishing town. In the summer of 1873, the year he spent there, a magnificent storm occurred on the coast and sank 9 vessels and claimed the lives of 128 men. Homer was clearly influenced by this tragic event and although the title seems positive, the meaning behind this painting was probably the opposite.
