A Parisian Ball—Dancing at the Casino
published November 23, 1867
Medium
Wood engraving on paper
Dimensions
Image: 23.4 × 35 cm (9 1/4 × 13 13/16 in.); Sheet: 27.9 × 40.6 cm (11 × 16 in.)
Classification
wood engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
158300
Art Historical Context
Winslow Homer's *A Parisian Ball—D at the Casino*, published *Harper's Weekly* November 23, 1867, captures the lively whirl of high society in mid-19th-century Paris. As an early wood engraving, it showcases Homer's skill in translating dynamic scenes into intricate black-and-white lines, measuring a compact 23.4 × 35 cm. Fresh from illustrating the American Civil War, Homer turned his realistic eye to European leisure, reflecting the transatlantic fascination with French culture during the glamorous Second Empire era under Napoleon III. Wood engraving, a precise technique using end-grain woo...
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...