Winslow Homer's name is a household word in American art, beloved painter of sea, people, 19th-century genre, and American life. Understanding his involvement with illustration early in his career is a particular perspective upon the artist's contribution to a medium that not only is aesthetic in its inspiration and application but is journalistic in its initial intention. Homer was an observer of current events for such magazines and journals as Harper's Weekly and Ballou's Pictorial Drawing Room Companion. Though well known in the study of his life and work, the consideration of these images separated from their original context places then in the general arena with his paintings, which were created solely for aesthetic purposes. The exhibition intends to explore this aspect of Homer's oeuvre and allow an assessment of the opportunity the illustrated image was given for informational as well as artistic presentation. Homer's exposure to the world of print media began with his apprenticeship in Bufford's lithography shop in Boston, where he was confronted with the role of the artist in the new application of the inclusion of pictures with printed stories. Prior to this time, articles were basically composed of verbiage, however, the 1850's dailies, weeklies, and other publications began to use pictorial descriptions that corresponded to the written word. With printing processes turning artists' drawings into wood engravings that cleverly replicated the drawn line, the possibilities were endless for artists to flourish in this medium. Thus was born the illustrator/journalist - at least for a limited time, since the process ceased with the advent of the photographic image that would engender its own revolution in the late 1870's. The literature surrounding Homer and his historical position tends to distinguish the artist's illustrative work from his paintings. It is important to note that the overlay between the two can be viewed as a continuum of the artist's production, the illustrations often inspiring larger works produced later in a more traditionally artistic medium. Such is the example of Snap the Whip, published in Harper's Weekly, 20 September 1873. Nine boys hand-in-hand play the rough and tumble game of disengaging weaker members at the end of the line. The illustration is transformed into a painting seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that reduces the number to eight, while creating a strong horizontal genre scene of children at play. Nothing remains of the engraving blocks from which the prints were made, undoubtedly because they were continually reused; the consistency of the size of his prints supports this notion. Homer's involvement with the process was most likely limited to his drawing on the white, smooth surface of the hard wooden block that would have been cut by an engraver who eliminated all but the line which was then used in printing the image. Homer's activities during the Civil War involved his going to the front as an artist/correspondent who covered the events of the war. Selling his work as a free-lance artist, Homer described scenes behind the battles of soldiers at leisure or in camp with an eye towards developing narratives that gave a sense of humanity to those involved in the war. Unlike the stark realism of photographic observations of such artists as Mathew Brady, Homer's illustrations provide a lasting record of individuals engaged in the conflict between Americans fighting for their beliefs. Disconnecting himself from the issues of the war at its conclusion, Homer continued to produce over one-hundred more illustrations for engravings for Harper's Weekly. Genre and agrarian views embody the work of this period until his career with Harper's ended in 1875. Curiously, Homer's intentions did not appear to be directed toward social commentary on either the reconstruction at the end of the war or on the events of the industrial revolution, both of which would have engendered strong persuasive narrative illustrations. Rather, Homer maintained a focus upon Americans at leisure, modest life on farms, children's activities, the workers of the sea, and drama surrounding the sea. Homer produced around 200 illustrations throughout the years 1857-1888, after which he turned exclusively to painting and watercolor. A selection of wood engravings from among those illustrations demonstrates the vision of the artist at the beginning of his career leading into his mature work in painting. The exhibition has been organized by the George D. and Harriet W. Cornell Fine Arts Museum at Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida, and provided for our pleasure by Smith Kramer Fine Art Services. We are privileged to hold this exhibition through the generosity of the Charles B. Degenstein Endowment for the Lore Degenstein Gallery which supports our ongoing exhibits and programs. Snap the Whip, Winslow Homer, Wood engraving, 1873