Northeaster is one of several paintings on marine subjects by the late-19th-century American painter Winslow Homer.

[3][4] After extensive travel, Homer settled in Prouts Neck, Maine.

He had a studio built for him, which was completed in 1884, and painted marine subjects, including the hard lives of the fishermen and their families.

During this period he painted a wide array of seascapes such as The Gulf Stream (1899), Moonlight – Wood's Island Light (1886), Northeaster and Cannon Rock (both 1895) and Early Morning After a Storm at Sea (1902).

Northeasters are storms along the upper East Coast of the United States that derive their name from the direction of the wind as it rotates onto land.