The Great Russian Ball at the Academy of Music, November 5, 1863, from Harper's Weekly, November 21, 1863
1863
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
1996.63.122
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the lively whirl of 1863 New York with Winslow Homer's *The Great Russian Ball at Academy of Music, November5, 1863*, a vibrant wood engraving published in *Harper's Weekly on November 21. Captured during the height of the Civil War, this print depicts a grand figure group dancing amid the opulent chandeliers and theater setting of the Academy of Music freezing a moment of exuberant celebration in black-and-white detail. The ball honored Russia's diplomatic support for the Union cause, a rare bright spot amid wartime tensions, as the nation backed Lincoln against the Confederacy—unl...
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...