← Winslow Homer

I Call Them My Children – To Myself, Susan (The Galaxy, An Illustrated Magazine of Entertaining Reading, Vol. VIII)

Original title: "I Call Them My Children" – To Myself, Susan (The Galaxy, An Illustrated Magazine of Entertaining Reading, Vol. VIII)

Artist

Winslow Homer

Date

October 1869

Medium

Wood engraving

Dimensions

image: 4 1/2 x 6 7/8 in. (11.4 x 17.5 cm) sheet: 9 7/16 x 5 7/8 in. (23.9 x 15 cm)

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1933

kurzbeschreibung

In 1869 Winslow Homer made the wood engraving "I Call Them My Children – To Myself, Susan" for the magazine The Galaxy. It pictures an elderly gentleman and a younger companion in a garden, the man holding a flower in his hand. Black and white governs the sheet, whose visual language stays realistic while carrying romantic touches.

Description

Up front stand a bespectacled older man in a dark shirt and jacket and a younger woman in a dark dress, a wreath of white flowers trimming her collar. He holds a flower, and her gaze rests on it. Trees and a church tower close off the space behind them. The layout feels balanced, the light falls evenly and leaves strong shadows absent. Because only one colour was available, the fine textures of plants and garments stand out with particular clarity.

Context

This engraving was made for the October 1869 issue of The Galaxy, a magazine with literary and artistic ambitions. In those years Homer worked as an illustrator for various papers before turning later to painting. Everyday scenes with an emotional undertone belonged to the regular repertoire of his early graphic work.

Impact

Quiet and inward-looking, the scene comes across that way; the careful gesture with the flower and the woman's attentive bearing contribute to it. From the balanced arrangement and the even light grows a clear, almost timeless presence. Between the elaborately worked plants and the plainly kept figures a tension arises that makes the mood still and contemplative.

Technique

For this wood engraving the motif was cut into a block of wood and afterwards printed on paper. Fine lines and hatching produce graded greys and varied textures. Plants and clothing can be rendered precisely in this way, which gives the sheet its detailed, graphic quality.

AI-generated description text

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