25/02/2023
"The painting reminds me of the reassuring predictability of the seasons: we reap what we sow." — Met curator Stephanie Herdrich
Born on February 24, 1836, Winslow Homer—regarded by many as one of the greatest American painters of the 19th century—began his career as a commercial printmaker, first in Boston and then in New York.
In October of 1861 at the start of the Civil War, he was sent to the front in Virginia as an artist-correspondent for the new illustrated journal Harper’s Weekly. His earliest Civil War paintings, dating from about 1863, are anecdotal, like his prints.
As the war drew to a close, however, paintings like "The Veteran in a New Field" reflect a more profound understanding of the war’s impact and meaning. Painted in the summer of 1865, not long after General Lee surrendered at Appomattox and the assassination of President Lincoln, "The Veteran in a New Field" is a deeply symbolic painting—an elegiac tribute to what has been lost.
Learn more about Homer and the symbolism of this painting: met.org/2XF94zU
🖼️ Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910). The Veteran in a New Field, 1865. Oil on canvas.