Hon. John Wentworth, Mayor Elect of Chicago, from Harper's Weekly, March 17, 1860
1860
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
1996.63.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1860, Winslow Homer, then a young illustrator honing his craft, contributed this striking wood-engraved portrait to *Harper's Weekly*, leading illustrated newspaper. Titled *Hon. John Wentworth, Elect of Chicago*, the print captures the bust of John Wentworth, a fiery abolitionist, newspaper editor, and influential Chicago politician who served as mayor during turbulent pre-Civil War years. Featured in the March 17 issue, it celebrated his re-election amid a city booming with immigration, industry, and reform movements. Homer's early graphic arts work, rendered in meticulous black-and-whit...
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...