Orrin, Make Haste, I Am Perishing!
Original title: "Orrin, Make Haste, I Am Perishing!" (The Galaxy, An Illustrated Magazine of Entertaining Reading, Vol. VI)
kurzbeschreibung
A wood engraving by Winslow Homer from August 1868 shows a boy in a boat who clearly finds himself in a tight spot. The image ran in The Galaxy, An Illustrated Magazine of Entertaining Reading, Vol. VI, as an illustration to a literary story.
Description
A boy crouches at the front of a rough boat knocked together from pieces of wood. He grips a stick in one hand, looks straight out at the viewer, and his face carries an urgent expression. Trees and reeds suggest a rural stretch of nature behind him. Crisp, finely detailed lines define the whole view.
Context
Homer made the illustration for the August 1868 issue of The Galaxy, an American literary magazine. Through the 1860s he worked as an illustrator for various periodicals before turning to painting. The scene belongs to a story in that issue, as the accompanying text on page 228 makes plain: "Orrin, make haste, I am perishing!"
Impact
The boy's direct gaze pulls the viewer into the situation at once and builds emotional tension. The calm, natural surroundings sit oddly against the apparent urgency of his plight, which sharpens the narrative pull of the picture.
Technique
Cut lines and hatching carry this print, building up tone and shadow through their density. Homer's precise draughtsmanship, standard for magazine illustration of the day, comes through in the subtle gradations of the printed impression.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)