Pocket Guide -> Media -> Oil on canvas -> Haymaking
Haymaking
by Winslow Homer · American, 1836 - 1910
| Creation Date: | 1864 |
| Media & Support: | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions: | 16 x 11 inches |
| Credit: | Museum Purchase, Howald Fund |
Winslow Homer, one of America’s foremost Realist painters in the nineteenth century, is still one of America’s best- known artists. He took up oil painting during the Civil War, after working as a freelance illustrator for magazines, including Harper’s Weekly. Haymaking is a remarkable example of his ability to capture the crispness and clarity of light. After the years of national crisis, this prosperous and hale young farmer was a welcome personification of America’s abiding faith in peace and plenty, a figure who reassured viewers about the future health and productivity of the nation.
