Being a man with multiple talents, Winslow Homer (February 24, 1836- September 29, 1910) was one of America’s most admired artists. Homer was a painter, illustrator, and etcher and was regarded as one of the most admired late 19th century artist in America. Born in Boston, Massachusetts and later moving to New York, he broadened his artistic ability in Brooklyn while taking night classes at the National Academy of Design. Homer later had brief lessons under French genre and landscape painter Frédéric Rondel. When the Union Armies went south during the American Civil War, Homer traveled with the armies and served as artist-correspondent for Harper’s Weekly magazine. Within that time, his illustrations, being marked by realism, focused more on…show more content… This particular work was common of how Homer wanted to depict the war. He never depicted dead soldiers-which was a commonplace in newspapers at the time. However, Homer was not afraid to share both the pleasant and horrific facts of the war through many of his illustrations. This specific illustration was more spirited-along with the other lithographs in the Campaign Sketches series, although the setting was in a Union Army hospital. It displays the major theme of the woman’s role in the Civil War and how their actions contributed to the success of the Union…show more content… While many of his sketches were dictated by spirited humor, this specific sketch portrayed a theme of sentimentalism. Both the soldier and women have expressions on their face that convey seriousness. The soldier shows possible pain due to his injury, in combination of melancholy because he misses his family. Writing this letter reminds him of how much he misses his family and reminds him how far he is away from home. The visitor’s face shows both empathy and support for the soldier. She provides both physical support-through writing the letter- and emotional support-through being there for the soldier in a time of pain and suffering. The feelings expressed in this scene make newspaper readers sad and tender as many wives and families are all experiencing the same thing. The scene also stirs up nostalgia for all families, for the wives do not like being a broken family and miss being with their husbands. Homer could have been expressing his own feelings about himself not being home because of the
