"Orrin, Make Haste, I Am Perishing!" (The Galaxy, An Illustrated Magazine of Entertaining Reading, Vol. VI)
August 1868
Medium
Wood engraving
Dimensions
image: 4 5/8 x 6 7/8 in. (11.7 x 17.5 cm) sheet: 5 3/4 x 9 1/2 in. (14.6 x 24.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1933
Accession Number
33.96.6(2)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created by Winslow Homer in August 1868, "Orrin, Make Haste, I Am Perishing!" appeared as a wood engraving in The Galaxy, an illustrated magazine of entertaining reading. At this stage in his career, Homer was a prolific illustrator for periodicals, using his keen eye for narrative drama to bring stories to life for a broad American audience. The evocative title hints at a moment of tension, likely featuring a woman on a bridge, capturing the emotional intensity common in 19th-century magazine fiction. Wood engraving was the dominant reproductive technique of the era, allowing artists like Ho...
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...