Seesaw--Gloucester, Massachusetts, from Harper's Weekly, September 12, 1874
1874
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
1996.63.100
Tags
Art Historical Context
Winslow Homer's *Seesaw—Gloucester, Massachusetts*, in *Harper's Weekly* on 12, 1874, captures a joyful moment of childhood play along the rugged New England coast. This graphic arts print depicts children gleefully balancing on makeshift seesaw, their simple wooden apparatus set against the backdrop of Gloucester's fishing village. Homer, a master of American Realism, excelled at portraying everyday life with vivid authenticity, and this wood engraving—likely based on his on-site sketches—brings the scene to life through dynamic lines and subtle shading that convey motion and exuberance. As ...
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...