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Jessie Remained Alone at the Table (The Galaxy, An Illustrated Magazine of Entertaining Reading, Vol. VI)

Original title: Jessie Remained Alone at the Table (The Galaxy, An Illustrated Magazine of Entertaining Reading, Vol. VI)

Artist

Winslow Homer

Date

July 1868

Medium

Wood engraving

Dimensions

image: 4 7/8 x 6 7/8 in. (12.4 x 17.5 cm) sheet: 9 7/16 in. (24 cm) sheet: 8 7/8 x 5 15/16 in. (22.6 x 15.1 cm)

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1933

kurzbeschreibung

Winslow Homer's 1868 wood engraving, made for The Galaxy magazine, shows Jessie alone at a table. She holds a cue, likely for a billiards game, and prepares to play.

Description

Jessie stands in the foreground, leaning over the table with the cue in hand. Behind her, several people look toward the far end of the table, waiting for the game to begin. The figures' clothing points to an earlier era. The layout feels balanced, the light is evenly distributed, and the tones remain monochrome. Realistic and detailed, the engraving carefully renders textures and shadows.

Context

For the July 1868 issue of the American literary and entertainment magazine The Galaxy, Winslow Homer produced this illustration. Wood engravings were then a common means of bringing pictures to mass media. During this period, Homer increasingly turned to scenes of American everyday life and leisure.

Impact

A quiet, focused mood hangs over the moment before the game. Clear arrangement and precise rendering of figures and textures give the print spatial depth and narrative presence.

Technique

In wood engraving, a relief process, the motif is cut into a woodblock. Fine lines and hatching create the tonal values and textures typical of the technique. The image measures 12.4 x 17.5 cm, while the sheet is larger and about 24 cm high.

AI-generated description text

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)