Officer and Aide Inspecting a Squadron
1863â64
Classification
figures
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Savage Homer, Jr.
Accession Number
1912-12-142
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
**Officer and Aide Inspecting Squadron** *Winslow Homer, 1863–64* Winslow Homer, a pioneering American realist painter (1836–1910), captured the grit and humanity of the Civil War in this evocative work from 1863–64. As a young artist and Harper's Weekly correspondent, Homer sketched directly from life amid Union troops, translating battlefield observations into powerful images. This piece, classified among figure studies, depicts an officer and aide reviewing a squadron—likely evoking the discipline and tension of military life during bloodiest conflict. Homer's early Civil War series m...