Skating at Boston (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. III)
Original title: Skating at Boston (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. III)
kurzbeschreibung
Winslow Homer made 'Skating in Boston' in 1859 for Harper's Weekly. The wood engraving carries the viewer onto a frozen stretch of water in Boston, where people have gathered to skate and to spend time together. The illustration ran in the weekly paper that March.
Description
Women and men cross the ice in the dress of the day, hats and coats and long skirts. Some pause to talk, others glide past; a child crouches on the ground as though just fallen. Buildings and a bridge rise behind the group, marking the spot as part of the city. The layout runs across the sheet, figures to the fore, architecture closing them in.
Context
On March 12, 1859, the engraving appeared in Harper's Weekly, a paper known for its illustrations. Skating had become widely popular in the United States during the nineteenth century, and Boston counted as a center of the sport. Homer was earning a living as an illustrator at the time, giving his attention to the everyday scenes of city life.
Impact
Dense hatching and moving figures give the print a cheerful winter mood. Out of the to-and-fro between motion and company comes an atmosphere that draws the viewer close to what is happening.
Technique
For printing, the image was cut into a wood block and then pulled onto paper. Delicate gradations of gray and shading come from lines cut to different depths and densities in the block. As was usual with this method, the impression stayed black and white.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)