Winslow Homer   (1836 -1910)
Boys in a Pasture, 1874
Oil on canvas
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Original: 15.8 x 22.8 in.

As with In the Mowing, this painting celebrates the freedom and innocence of a rural childhood.  The expansive sweep of fields behind the two boys resembles the Hurley Flats.

Looking very much like the background of the paintings Boys in a Pasture (at left) and In the Mowing, these are the fields south of Wynkoop Road, Hurley, NY.  The line of trees and brush in the distance border the Esopus Creek.  (Photo: Bruce Whistance 2019) 

Boys In a Pasture, a Homer masterpiece, was honored by the U.S. Postal Service in 2010 on a 44-cent stamp as part of the American Treasures series (Scott catalogue number 4473 designed by Terry Noyes).  This was the third time that a Homer painting appeared on a U.S. stamp. The other two were Breezing Up in 1962 and The Fog Warning in 1998.