A Parisian Ball – Dancing at the Casino
Original title: A Parisian Ball – Dancing at the Casino (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. XI)
kurzbeschreibung
Dated 23 November 1867, Winslow Homer's wood engraving A Parisian Ball – Dancing at the Casino presents a dance evening in a Parisian ballroom. A crowd of dancers and onlookers fills a hall with a plank floor and draperies.
Description
Up front a couple moves through a calm dance step: the gentleman in a suit and top hat, the lady in an elaborate dress with flounces. Behind them more figures gather – men in suits and hats, women in fine dress – and watch the proceedings. The layout stretches wide, the eye settling on the dancing pair while the spectators recede. Light falls from the front, casting shadows across faces and floor. There is no colour; the engraving stays monochrome.
Context
The print was made for Harper's Weekly, one of the most important illustrated magazines in nineteenth-century America. Homer worked on it during a stay in Paris, where he came to know the city's busy pleasure life. What a casino offers here belongs to Parisian nightlife of the 1860s.
Impact
Lively and rich in detail, the dance scene stands out, and the very lack of colour draws the eye to the figures' gestures and clothing. Close observation brings the event near and makes the mood of a social evening palpable.
Technique
Lines and hatching worked in wood produce tonal values and interior drawing here – a relief process in which the image is cut out of the block. Such refinements shaped nineteenth-century magazine illustration.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)