Winslow Homer

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Theodore Gibson
6 years ago
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1 Winslow Homer Homer was an American Artist. He started his career as an illustrator/correspondent for Harper s Weekly during the Civil War. A good portion of the discussion is focused around this body of Homer s work since it is a great connection with what they are learning in the classroom this year.

Introduce yourself to the class and tell them that you are in for Art in the Classroom. Ask them to tell you one or two things about the last artist that was presented.

2 Introduce yourself to the class and tell them that you are in for Art in the Classroom. Ask them to tell you one or two things about the last artist that was presented. Before we begin today, let s review the Elements of Art. Let s keep these in mind when we are looking at today s artwork. Elements of Art slide (color, light, line, shape, texture, space) Slide #1 Today s artist, Winslow Homer, first became well known for his work during the Civil War. He was born in Massachusetts, outside of Boston and he later moved to Maine. You can imagine that the people here in the North were starving for news about the War. How were their brothers, sons and neighbors faring? How do we find out about the War in Iraq? Television, newspapers, magazines There were weekly newspapers and magazines that would be the main means of information. Winslow Homer was working as an illustrator for a magazine called Harper s Weekly. He would sketch a scene and then transfer it to a wood engraving. Then, it would be transferred to paper. It is through these drawings by Homer and others like him that the people back home got images of the war. Let s look at one of these scenes now. Slide #2 Here is a copy of the magazine with one of Homer s sketches on the cover. He was an illustrator at this time, not a famous artist. It is titled Rebel Soldiers What is happening in this picture? maybe a night time raid

Homer wrote a letter home about the task of the sharpshooter, saying he had a horror of that branch of the service. He found the violence hard to take.

3 Slide #3 What do you think is happening in this picture? Sharpshooter This one is called Where is the viewer standing? Underneath the figure Why do you think that Homer chose this perspective? Homer wrote a letter home about the task of the sharpshooter, saying he had a horror of that branch of the service. He found the violence hard to take. Sharpshooter became well known. When Homer returned home after the war, he made this sketch into an oil painting. Slide #4 Do you have a different reaction to this version of Sharpshooter than the black and white version? If yes, why do you think that that is so? How did he use light? Dappled light coming through the leaves

Prisoners from the Front. It recounts an event that actually happened. A Union Officer (Brigadier General Barlow) captured several Confederate Officers on June 21, 1864.

4 Slide #5 What do you think is happening in this scene? What clues do you see that help tell the story? Rifles on the ground in front of the men, the uniforms of different color (blue and grey), the proud look in the figure on the right, the barren landscape, The name of this painting is called Prisoners from the Front. It recounts an event that actually happened. A Union Officer (Brigadier General Barlow) captured several Confederate Officers on June 21, The background is of the battlefield at Petersburg, Virginia. Do you get a feeling from looking at the background the battlefield? It is barren and lacking in foliage. Could Homer be trying to tell us something about his thoughts on the war? How did Homer depict the officer receiving the prisoners? He receives his prisoners with dignity What do the expressions on the faces of the prisoners indicate? Look at the central figure, he is surrendering, yet, there is pride and defiance in his expression. This work was also first done as an illustration, and later Homer painted the scene in oil. Slide #6 Here is a scene from an army camp.

Slide #8 Here is a photograph of Homer. Pretty cool looking guy for almost 150 years ago, huh? After the war, Homer came back to the Northeast.

5 Slide #7 This work is called Veteran in a New Field Here the young man has returned from the war, back home working in the fields. What do you think Homer was trying to say with this work? Some interpret it to mean that now that the war is over, man and nature can be reunited. Slide #8 Here is a photograph of Homer. Pretty cool looking guy for almost 150 years ago, huh? After the war, Homer came back to the Northeast. After the Civil War, the subject of Homer s paintings changed from war and death to more idyllic subjects. He painted children and simple, hard-working people.

Slide #9 What is this a scene of? A classroom it is called The Country School How is this classroom like ours? How is it different? Where is the light coming from?

6 Slide #9 What is this a scene of? A classroom it is called The Country School How is this classroom like ours? How is it different? Where is the light coming from? How did Homer use color and shape to draw our attention to the teacher. What do you think that the girls in the background, under the window are talking about? Describe the texture of some of the items in the room. Wood, hair ribbon, fabric on windows, teacher s apron, blackboard This scene is inside a country school house, but Homer loved to paint outdoors. As we look at his work, notice how so much of it takes place outside.

Slide #10 What do you think this girl is thinking? How does Homer use the blackboard to frame the girl? Slide #11 This work may be one of Homers most famous. It is called Snap the Whip.

7 Slide #10 What do you think this girl is thinking? How does Homer use the blackboard to frame the girl? Slide #11 This work may be one of Homers most famous. It is called Snap the Whip. That is the name of the game that the children are playing. The setting of this school house is in the Adirondack Mountains What season is it? Autumn What colors in the painting tell us that it is Autumn? What is the weather like? Can you see the sun? From which direction is the light coming? Homer used shadows to illustrate this. How does Homer give the impression that the boys are moving? See how the fallen boy has not quite hit the ground? By showing the boys in mid step and in the air, he creates the illusion that they are running. The boys create a line. Where does that line draw our eye? The more sedate females.

8 Homer often made more than one version of the same piece. Slide #12 Here is another version of Snap the Whip. Can you notice any differences? Let s look at them side by side: Slide #13 The color may be different because these are all copies of the works and they may not be true to the original. Differences: - background mountains; where are the girls?; a boy on the end is missing

9 Slide #14 What is the first thing that you notice when you look at this painting? Probably the girl in the red dress What made you notice her? color of her dress, middle of composition, she is at a crossroads Times were hard for some people. Many people would work in a factory for a short time until they could find something better. Sometimes school teachers would take jobs in factories during the summer months. This painting is called Morning Bell. It is time to go to work at the factory. Does the girl in the red dress look like she belongs here? No Do you see anyone else in the painting? The girls to the right What could they be saying? What could be in the container that the girl is holding? Her lunch Homers paintings are in museums and private collections all over the world, but this one, Morning Bell; that is right here in Connecticut! The original of this painting is at Yale University in New Haven. It is only a half hour away from here.

He showed them with a warmth and dignity. Tell me about the girls in this painting.

10 Slide #15 Can anyone tell me what task these girls are doing? This work is titled Cotton Pickers. Years after the war, Homer went back to Virginia, where he had once sketched so many scenes of soldiers. Now he painted former slaves. He showed them with a warmth and dignity. Tell me about the girls in this painting. Hard working, quiet, dreamers looking off into the distance, wondering about their future? Homer also painted many scenes at the sea. He portrayed strong men and women battling the sea for their livelihoods. Slide #16 What is happening here? Mending Nets What are these nets to be used for? Catching fish Does it look like hard work?

Slide #17 Here is another sea scene. What is Homer trying to say with this work? The life of a fisherman is not easy as these men are shown struggling to bring in their net full of herring.

11 Slide #17 Here is another sea scene. What is Homer trying to say with this work? The life of a fisherman is not easy as these men are shown struggling to bring in their net full of herring. Why did he not show the faces of the figures? They can be any fisherman, anonymous Homer spent time in Nassau in the Bahamas to escape the cold Maine winters. Has anyone ever been there? There is a beautiful sparkling sea with dazzling colors. Homer did watercolors while he was there and they sold very well. However, the sea was not always calm, sometimes it could be dangerous, too. This next painting is called Gulf Stream. I doubt that you would have seen a scene like this on one of your visits to the Bahamas.

Slide #18 Please take a minute and look at the painting. How does it make you feel? Is the water calm? No, it is very rough What is missing from the sailboat: - the mast!

12 Slide #18 Please take a minute and look at the painting. How does it make you feel? Is the water calm? No, it is very rough What is missing from the sailboat: - the mast! What is in the right background? A waterspout What would a water spout do to a small boat like this one? What is in the foreground (the area closest to us)?sharks As you can imagine, this painting was criticized when it first came out for being so disturbing. Homer was annoyed that people cared more about what would happen to the imaginary sailor than how well the thing was painted. At one point he added the passing ship in the background can anyone see it (it is on the left side)? In response to the criticism, Homer said: You may inform these people that the sailor did not starve to death. He was not eaten by sharks. The waterspouts did not hit him. And he was rescued by a passing ship. What do you think happened? Let s review some of the things that we spoke about today. Winslow Homer Civil War Illustrator American Snap the Whip Gulf Stream

Step 1 - Introducing the Winslow Homer Slideshow Guide

Step 1 - Introducing the Winslow Homer Slideshow Guide MOTIVATION BEGIN READING HERE Would you like to be famous someday? For what would you like to be famous? Do you think it would be fun to be famous?