A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
published December 24, 1859
Medium
Wood engraving on paper
Dimensions
Image: 35.2 × 51.1 cm (13 7/8 × 20 1/8 in.); Sheet: 39.5 × 54.4 cm (15 9/16 × 21 7/16 in.)
Classification
wood engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
158368
Art Historical Context
Winslow Homer's *A Merry Christmas and a New Year*, published on 24, 1859, captures the festive spirit of the holiday season through the precise medium of wood engraving on paper. At just years old, Homer was on his career as a illustrator, and this work exemplifies his early talent for detailed, narrative imagery. Measuring 35.2 × 51.1 cm, the print was designed for reproduction in periodicals like *Harper's Weekly*, making art accessible to a wide American audience during the antebellum era. Wood engraving, Homer's chosen technique, involved carving fine lines into a hard wood block (often...
About the Artist
Winslow Homer · 1836–1910
Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was one of America's greatest painters and a preeminent figure in 19th-century American art. Largely self-taught, Homer began his career as a commercial illustrator and Civil War correspondent for Harper's Weekly before becoming renowned for his powerful marine subjects and landscape paintings. His mastery of both oil and watercolor, combined with his uncompromising reali...