The Skating Season--1862, from Harper's Weekly, January 18, 1862
1862
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
1996.63.45
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into a moonlit winter wonderland with Winslow Homer's *The Skating Season—1862*, a wood engraving published in *Harper's Weekly* on January 18, 1862. This lively graphic arts print captures a group ofaters gliding across a frozen river, blanketed in snow, their figures silhouetted against a serene night sky. Homer, an emerging master of American realism, masterfully conveys motion and joy in this snapshot of everyday leisure. Created amid the American Civil War, the artwork offers a poignant contrast to the era's turmoil. *Harper's Weekly*, a leading illustrated newspaper, brought such s...
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...