The Fishing Party (from "Appleton's Journal," Vol. II)
Original title: The Fishing Party (from "Appleton's Journal," Vol. II)
kurzbeschreibung
A wood engraving by Winslow Homer, made on October 2, 1869 and published in Appleton's Journal, presents a group of anglers on a riverbank. Trees and a waterfall frame the view, and figure study and landscape merge into a single wide-format image.
Description
In the foreground, women in long, elaborate dresses and hats hold fishing rods and chat with one another; a few carry picnic baskets, suggesting an easy day by the water. More people stand on the bank behind them, some in plainer clothes. Trees and a waterfall enclose the picture, while evenly spread light picks out the contours.
Context
Appleton's Journal, a widely read American magazine of literature and culture, brought out the engraving on October 2, 1869. Homer worked regularly as an illustrator for publications of this kind during the 1860s. That a leisure party appears here fishing points to the growing popularity of recreational pastimes among the American middle and upper classes after the Civil War.
Impact
Calm and idyll shape the picture and invite the viewer to linger. Clean lines and a balanced arrangement create harmony and draw the viewer into the natural landscape on view.
Technique
Cutting the design into a hard wood block produced the printing surface, allowing fine lines and details that could be reproduced in magazines like Appleton's Journal. The even hatching gives the figures and foliage their shape and keeps the tonal range steady from edge to edge. Working in a single color underlines the graphic character of the sheet.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)