On the Beach – Two are Company, Three are None (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. XVI)
August 17, 1872
Medium
Wood engraving
Dimensions
image: 9 1/8 x 13 3/4 in. (23.2 x 34.9 cm) sheet: 10 3/4 x 15 13/16 in. (27.3 x 40.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928
Accession Number
28.111.5(2)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Winslow Homer, one of America's foremost Realist painters, captured the leisurely spirit of post-Civil War summers in *On the Beach – Two Company, Three are None a wood engraving published in *Harper's Weekly* on August 17, 1872. As a prolific illustrator for the influential magazine, Homer translated his keen observations of everyday life into intricate black-and-white prints, making fine art accessible to a broad through mass reproduction. The scene playfully evokes seaside romance amid the dunes, with men and women strolling near boats on a sunlit beach—the title wittily nodding to the pro...
About the Artist
Winslow Homer|Harper's Weekly|Harper & Brothers · 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...