Together with The Herring Net and Breezing Up, painted the same year and also depicting the hard lives of fishermen in Maine, it is considered among his best works on such topics.

[2] The painting depicts a lone fisherman in a dory who has caught several halibut but now sees fog blowing up, threatening to cut him off as he rows back to his ship.

The seas are choppy and the dory rocks high on the waves, making it clear that the journey home will require considerable physical effort.

[1]The scene is psychologically tense; the risk of being lost at sea as a result of a sudden fog was all too real at the time, and the viewer does not know whether this man will reach his ship.

[7] Before Homer added the dark shadows of the fog in the background, the original work emphasized the fisherman's focus on reeling in another fish to bring back to his boat.

[5] The added details shift the meaning of this work to emphasize the dangerous life of a Maine fisherman when nature takes control.

In contrast, in Summer Night (1890) the sea is raging in the background while in the middle ground people silhouetted against the waves watch, but in the foreground two girls are dancing, unconcerned.

Similarly in The Gulf Stream (1899), violent waves and sharks surround the drifting boat, but the man lays across the stern, again, unconcerned about the possible dangers.