Object Details
Artist
Winslow Homer, born Boston, MA 1836-died Prout's Neck, ME 1910
Exhibition Label
In 1868, Winslow Homer took up the subject of people who worked in textile mills. Mill operatives’ activities were organized by bells that rang throughout the day. Before mid-century, Americans viewed factories as places where respectable folk—mostly women—could earn a decent income and make a contribution to the nation’s industrial transformation. By the time Homer created his picture, native-born farmwives and their daughters had long been absent from the mills. Recent immigrants and the desperately poor replaced them at the looms, the only takers for work that offered the barest sustenance.
The Great American Hall of Wonders, 2011
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Ray Austrian Collection, gift of Beatrice L. Austrian, Caryl A. Austrian and James A. Austrian
Date
1868
Object number
1996.63.69
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Type
Graphic Arts-Print
Medium
wood engraving on paper
Dimensions
image: 9 1/4 x 14 in. (23.5 x 35.6 cm)
See more items in
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department
Graphic Arts
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Topic
Figure group
Occupation\industry\manufacturing
Landscape\New England
Architecture Exterior\industry\factory
Literature\Harper's Weekly
Link to Original Record
Record ID
saam_1996.63.69