Hon. Robert I. Burbank, from Ballou's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, October 3, 1857
1857
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
1996.63.147
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1857, a young Winslow Homer created this striking portrait of Hon. Robert I. Burbank for *Ballou's Pictorial Drawingoom Companion*, a popular Boston-based illustrated magazine that brought art and news into American homes. At just 21, Homer was honing his craft as a freelance illustrator, producing detailed wood engravings for periodicals before gaining fame as a leading Realist painter. This print captures Burbank, likely a respected judge, in a formal pose that conveys dignity and authority, reflecting mid-19th-century conventions of portraiture for public figures. The artwork exemplifie...
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...