Documents Project #4
Project
Title: Winslow Homer and "Snap the Whip"
Document:
Click on the picture above for a larger view.
Source:
Winslow Homer,
"Snap the Whip," 1872, 22 inches high by 36 inches wide, oil
paint on canvas, currently at the Butler Institute of American Art,
Youngstown, OH.
Background:
Winslow Homer was an artist who began his career creating
illustrations for magazines like Harper's
Weekly. He became famous for his illustrations of the
battles of the Civil War. After the war, he turned his attention
to scenes of everyday life in 19th century America. An example is
the painting shown below, "Snap the Whip." (Read
about this period in the art career of Winslow Homer at the National
Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, web site: http://www.nga.gov/feature/homer/homer05.htm.
Use the arrows in the upper right to see the rest of this excellent web
site. Read a biography of Homer and see more of his paintings at this web
site.)
Document:
Click on the picture above for a larger view.
Questions:
- Describe the game that the boys in this painting are playing.
- What is the scene of this painting? What is the red
building? Who might the people at the far left be?
- After the Civil War, many artists created paintings showing children. Why was the theme of children important to them, or what do children symbolize for them?
- Based on what you know of American history, do you think Winslow Homer in this painting accurately described life in America at the end of the 19th century? Why or why not?
- The "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci symbolizes the best of
Italian Renaissance art. Winslow Homer's "Snap the Whip" has been
described as America's "Mona Lisa." What does this mean?
Explain why you think this is so.