News from the War, from Harper's Weekly, June 14, 1862
1862
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
1996.63.117
Tags
Art Historical Context
Winslow Homer's *News from the War*, in *Harper's Weekly* on June 14, 1862, captures a moment during the American Civil War. a skilled illustrator for the popular magazine, Homer depicted a group of figures—likely or soldiers—gathered intently around a newspaper, absorbing the latest dispatches from the front lines. This graphic arts print, rendered in wood engraving, reflects the urgency of wartime communication when letters and periodicals were lifelines connecting families and the home front to the brutal realities of battle. Homer, an emerging realist artist, honed his observational skill...
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...