Cutting a Figure, from Every Saturday, February 4, 1871
1871
Medium
Graphic Arts-Print
Classification
Graphic Arts-Print
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Ray Austrian Collection, gift of Beatrice L. Austrian, Caryl A. Austrian and James A. Austrian
Accession Number
1996.63.176
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Cutting a Figure**, a wood engraving by Winslow Homer published in *Every Saturday* magazine on February 4, 1871, captures the graceful thrill of ice skating on a frozen lake. The full-length figure glides effortlessly, "cutting a figure"—a popular 19th-century term for tracing intricate patterns on ice with one's skates. Homer, a master of American Realism, renders the scene with dynamic precision, emphasizing motion and the crisp winter environment that defined leisure in post-Civil War America. one of Homer's many contributions to popular periodicals like *Harper's Weekly* and *Every Sa...
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...