Fire-Works on the Night of the Fourth of July, from Harper's Weekly, July 11, 1868
1868
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
1996.63.68
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Fire-Works on the Night of the Fourth of July** (1868) by Winslow Homer the exuberant spirit of America's Independence Day celebrations. Published in *Harper's Weekly* on July 11, 1868, this graphic arts print depicts a lively crowd gathered to watch dazzling fireworks explode overhead, forming a figure group bathed in bursts of light. Homer, an early master of American realism, honed his skills through such magazine illustrations, blending precise observation with dramatic energy to evoke communal joy. Created just three years after the Civil War's end, the artwork reflects a nation healin...
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...