A Sick Chicken

Winslow Homer

National Gallery of Art

This painting shows a woman standing in a grassy area. She is facing forward and looking down at a small white object she holds in her hands which vaguely resembles a small chick. A long white bonnet casts a shadow on her pale face. She wears a long-sleeved dress with light blue and white stripes with a black ribbon tied around her collar and a long brown apron around her waist. She stands on a wide patch of pale blue-green grass, and several brown and white chickens and small chicks walk in the grass around her. Behind her there are metal milk cans on the left, and on the right is a small red structure that could be a chicken coop. The background is filled by a large white building with a light brown porch and white beams supporting a white shingled roof. On the left is a window with dark green shutters, and in the center behind the woman is an open doorway. On the porch there is also a wooden chair and a wooden table with small pink and brown pots.