Picnicking in the Woods (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. II)
Original title: Picnicking in the Woods (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. II)
kurzbeschreibung
Winslow Homer's 1858 wood engraving brings a party of picnickers together under the trees. The print is crowded with figures: people chat and laugh, and a few even climb into the branches. It appeared in Harper's Weekly.
Description
Men and women in nineteenth-century dress settle among trees and shrubs. In the foreground several talk together, some seated, some standing; the women wear hats and long skirts, the men suits and headwear. Behind them tall trees rise, with a few people scrambling up into them. The layout is packed tight, entirely in black and white, and full of small incident.
Context
Homer made this sheet in 1858 for Harper's Weekly, then one of America's leading illustrated newspapers. In those years he supported himself as a freelance illustrator, supplying wood engravings to various publications. A woodland picnic suited the taste of the American middle class, who found in such leisure pictures an idealized view of country life.
Impact
The many figures and details keep the image moving and alive. Because everything stays in black and white, the sheet carries a documentary air that carries the viewer back in imagination to the years when it was made.
Technique
In wood engraving the design is cut into a wooden block and then printed. This method could hold fine lines and small details, exactly what newspaper illustrations required. Printing was in black and white, as was usual at the time.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)