Home from the War, from Harper's Weekly, July 13, 1863

Art Historical Context

**Home from the War**, poignant wood engraving by Winslow Homer published in *Harper's Weekly* July 13, 1863, captures the human toll of the American Civil War. As a artist-correspondent for the magazine, Homer documented the conflict's realities through vivid sketches, often translated into prints for mass distribution. This image, part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection, depicts a Union soldier returning home, surrounded by a figure group likely including family members, evoking the era's widespread anxiety and relief amid battles like Gettysburg that summer. Homer's Realis...

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...