The Sleighing Season—the Upset
published January 14, 1860
Medium
Wood engraving on paper
Dimensions
Image: 23.2 × 35 cm (9 3/16 × 13 13/16 in.); Sheet: 28.2 × 40 cm (11 1/8 × 15 3/4 in.)
Classification
wood engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
158330
Art Historical Context
Winslow Homer's *The Sleighing Season Upset*, published on January 14, 1860, captures a lively moment of winter revelry in mid-19th-century America. Created as a wood engraving on paper, this image depicts the chaotic excitement of a sleigh overturn during the popular sleighing season—a cherished social pastime where young couples paraded in decorated sleighs through snowy streets. Homer, then a 23-year-old illustrator for *Harper's Weekly*, masterfully conveys the humor and energy of everyday life, foreshadowing his later fame as a realist painter of American scenes. Wood engraving, Homer'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...