Winslow Homer: Reflecting the Civil War Through Art

Winslow Homer (1836–1910) is regarded as one of American’s greatest artists in the 19th Century. Many of his works, such as “The Cotton Pickers,” “The Bright Side,” and “Prisoners from the Front,” are still very well-known and famous pieces of art. At the start of his artist career, he was a print maker and design chief for Harper’s Weekly Magazine; but during the course of the Civil War, his art took on a much deeper meaning as a result of it (“Winslow Homer and his paintings”). Homer’s works began to reflect on the effects the Civil War had on the nation, her people, and himself (Wood). “Near Andersonville” is one of Homer’s least known works (having gone unknown of until the 1960s) that had been one of his first works focusing on the African

The white apron she wears against the darker background, her overall lit up body as a result of facing the sun, and the wooden planks on the floor, the slop of the roof, and the lines of the fence all point to where she stands, furthering this conclusion. No matter what direction we begin looking at the picture, our eyes are immediately led to her standing figure. Then upon examining her, we are naturally brought to her face, where we see the somber and somewhat hopeless expression present and her hands clenching her apron in response to (what we assume to be) those same emotions. Our attention is then drawn to what she appears to be looking at. In the background, where there is a secondary spot of light (almost white) blue, we see soldiers marching in the background. The flag and guns they carry as well as the uniforms they wear suggest that they are armed marching Confederate soldiers leading unarmed Union soldiers to (what we assume through the title) Andersonville Prison. The African American woman is staring intently at these men being escorted away. But

The woman appears to be emerging out of the darkness of the building behind her and facing the light, however, she moves no further than the threshold of the doorway. At this moment, she can only catch a glimpse at what the sun has to offer, but she is unable to truly move forward. She is straddling the line between freedom and oppression. In the same way, the African Americans finally had a chance to surface from the dark, violently abusive, and inhumane situation they lived in through of the Civil War, however, they remained stuck in a society with engrained racist viewpoints (Fahs). They had hoped to be freed from their situation, but with the capture of their saviors and the culture of the society they lived in true equality and freedom would not come anytime soon. Even for those who had successfully escaped into the Northern lines and became “contraband of war” (a term given to those slaves who were able to escape into Northern army lines), or just simply “contraband”, remained living in less than favorable conditions (Fahs). In Harriet Jacobs’ “Life Among the Contrabands,” she describes the living situation of the African American population as being in general largely uncared for and ignored by those around them in Washington D.C. where she had visited. Jacobs noted an apparent lack of organization among those placed in