The Brierwood Pipe
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
unframed: 42.8 × 37.5 cm · framed: 68.9 × 64.1 × 9.2 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
American Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
Accession Number
1944.524
Tags
About this artwork
Homer’s subject was inspired by a sentimental poem popular at the time, in which a Civil War soldier carves a wooden pipe and daydreams of the time when the conflict will end so that he can return home. The painting depicts two volunteers for the Union Army who sport their regiment’s highly colorful uniforms, a design soon discovered as impractical due to its ability to be spotted by sharpshooters. The museum acquired this work during World War II. It seems likely that the painting’s imagery was...