Prisoners from the Front

Last updated
Prisoners from the Front
Winslow Homer - Prisoners from the Front - The Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg
Artist Winslow Homer
Year1866
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions61 cm× 96.5 cm(24 in× 38.0 in)
Location Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Accession22.207

Prisoners from the Front is an 1866 painting by American artist Winslow Homer. One of Homer's most notable early works, the painting depicts a scene in which Confederate officers surrender to Union Brigadier General Francis Channing Barlow during the American Civil War. Homer's experience as a war correspondent likely contributed to his rendering of the work. [1] [2]

Contents

Citing Prisoners' style, tone, and provenance, American art critic Peter Schjeldahl once called Homer's work "The most telling of all paintings about the Civil War." [3]

Infrared photography and numerous studies indicate that the painting underwent many changes in the course of completion. [4]

Description

The work depicts a group of Confederate soldiers surrendering to a Union officer in the barren landscape. The Union officer, identified as General Francis Channing Barlow, is recognizable, but the Confederate soldiers remain anonymous. Departing from traditional confrontation scenes where the vanquished bow down in submission, Homer introduces alterations. The Confederate prisoners, although indicating surrender by placing their rifles down, refuse to bow and stand in pride. Homer shows a group of Confederate soldiers of different ages. The elderly man positioned in the center of the group presents the most submissive demeanor among them. The young prisoner to his left has his hand in his pocket, showing confident nonchalance. The work captures a poignant portrayal of the tensions following the Civil War and the efforts to reconstruct the South. [5] :218–220

Interpretation

The painting perplexed critics, who struggled to categorize it according to conventional genres. It defies easy classification, combining elements of both historical and genre painting. [6]

Many scholars see the work as a symbolic commentary on the entire American Civil War rather than a mere recording of a specific event. Frances Pohl argues that the painting, by minimizing the contrast between winner and loser, presents the war as "a renegotiation of terms" between North and South rather than a complete break between them. [5] :219 It illustrates a standoff that symbolizes the enduring animosity and bitterness harbored by the Confederates, as well as the Northerners' cluelessness as to the depths of that hostility. The painting suggests that the reconciliation between the North and South necessitates spiritual growth and maturity on both sides in the postwar era. Homer's focus on conveying the war's emotional impact sets this work apart, making it a significant piece of art in the context of Civil War representation. [6] [7]

Homer's grim landscape captures the ravages of war on the physical and mental aspects of the actual landscape, nature, and humanity. Art historians note that Homer achieves the effect by skillfully integrating elements of history painting, landscape painting, and photography in his artwork. [5] [6]

Influences

Homer skillfully navigated the complexities of depicting the conflict in a historical context. The painting's meaning evolved over time, emphasizing themes of brotherly feeling and humanity, and erasing the strictly sectarian interpretation. Prisoners from the Front continues to be regarded as an example of historical art that thrives on ambiguity, conveying conflicting messages about the Civil War as a tragic, fratricidal event. [8] The painting is both featured and referenced in the movie Gettysburg, with it appearing in the opening credits and being mirrored in a scene where Lieutenant Thomas Chamberlain speaks to three Confederate prisoners.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genre art</span> Art genre that depicts scenes from everyday life

Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, work, and street scenes. Such representations may be realistic, imagined, or romanticized by the artist. Some variations of the term genre art specify the medium or type of visual work, as in genre painting, genre prints, genre photographs, and so on.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winslow Homer</span> American landscape painter (1836–1910)

Winslow Homer was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters of 19th-century America and a preeminent figure in American art in general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Fort Pillow</span> Battle and massacre of the American Civil War

The Battle of Fort Pillow, also known as the Fort Pillow massacre was fought on April 12, 1864, at Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River in Henning, Tennessee, during the American Civil War. The battle ended with Confederate soldiers commanded by Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest massacring U.S. Army soldiers attempting to surrender. Military historian David J. Eicher concluded: "Fort Pillow marked one of the bleakest, saddest events of American military history."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis C. Barlow</span> American lawyer, politician, and Union General

Francis Channing Barlow was a lawyer, politician, and Union General during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Colman</span> American painter (1832–1920)

Samuel Colman was an American painter, interior designer, and writer, probably best remembered for his paintings of the Hudson River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Scott</span> United States Army Medal of Honor recipient (1846–1901)

{{Infobox military person |name=Julian A. Scott |birth_date= February 14, 1846 |death_date= July 4, 1901 (aged 55) |image=Julian-scott-cdv.JPG |caption= |nickname= |birth_place=Johnson, Vermont, US |death_place=Plainfield, New Jersey, US |allegiance= [[United States
Union |branch= United States Army]]
Union Army |serviceyears= 1861 - 1863 |rank= Drummer |unit= 3rd Vermont Infantry |commands= |battles=American Civil War
*Battle of Lee's Mills |awards=Medal of Honor |relations= |laterwork= }} Julian A. Scott, was born in Johnson, Vermont, and served as a Union Army drummer during the American Civil War, where he received America's highest military decoration the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Lee's Mills. He was also an American painter and Civil War artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Realism</span> American art movement

American Realism was a style in art, music and literature that depicted contemporary social realities and the lives and everyday activities of ordinary people. The movement began in literature in the mid-19th century, and became an important tendency in visual art in the early 20th century. Whether a cultural portrayal or a scenic view of downtown New York City, American realist works attempted to define what was real.

<i>The Surrender of Breda</i> Painting by Diego Velazquez

La rendición de Breda is a painting by the Spanish Golden Age painter Diego Velázquez. It was completed during the years 1634–35, inspired by Velázquez's visit to Italy with Ambrogio Spinola, the Genoese-born Spanish general who conquered Breda on June 5, 1625. The painting depicts the exchange of the key of Breda from the Dutch to the Spanish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camp Morton</span> Civil War training area in Indianapolis, IN, US

Camp Morton was a military training ground and a Union prisoner-of-war camp in Indianapolis, Indiana, during the American Civil War. It was named for Indiana governor Oliver Morton. Prior to the war, the site served as the fairgrounds for the Indiana State Fair. During the war, Camp Morton was initially used as a military training ground. The first Union troops arrived at the camp in April 1861. After the fall of Fort Donelson and the Battle of Shiloh, the site was converted into a prisoner-of-war camp. The first Confederate prisoners arrived at Camp Morton on February 22, 1862; its last prisoners were paroled on June 12, 1865. At the conclusion of the war, the property resumed its role as the fairgrounds for the Indiana State Fair. In 1891 the property was sold and developed into a residential neighborhood known as Morton Place, a part of the Herron-Morton Place Historic District.

The Battle of Columbus, Georgia, was the last conflict in the Union campaign through Alabama and Georgia, known as Wilson's Raid, in the final full month of the American Civil War.

<i>A Visit from the Old Mistress</i> Painting by Winslow Homer

A Visit from the Old Mistress is an 1876 painting by the American artist Winslow Homer. It was one of several works that Homer is thought to have created during a mid-1870s visit to Virginia, where he had served for a time as a Union war correspondent during the American Civil War. Scholars have noted that the painting's composition is taken from Homer's earlier painting Prisoners from the Front, which depicts a group of captive Confederate soldiers defiantly regarding a Union officer. Put on display in the northern states for a northern audience, A Visit from the Old Mistress, along with Homer's other paintings of black southern life from the Reconstruction era, has been praised as an "invaluable record of an important segment of life in Virginia during the Reconstruction."

<i>Surrender of a Confederate Soldier</i> 1873 painting by Julian Scott

Surrender of a Confederate Soldier is an 1873 painting by Julian Scott in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The painting depicts an injured soldier of the Confederate States Army in the American Civil War waiving an improvised flag of surrender. The soldier is accompanied by black man and a woman holding an infant: the black man is presumed to be the soldier's slave, and the woman and infant are presumed to be his wife and child.

<i>In Front of Yorktown</i> Painting by Winslow Homer

In Front of Yorktown is an oil painting completed in 1863 by the American artist Winslow Homer. It depicts men from McClellan's Army of the Potomac, before the Siege of Yorktown during the American Civil War. The painting is in the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery.

<i>The Bright Side</i> (painting) Painting by Winslow Homer

The Bright Side is an oil painting by the American artist Winslow Homer. Painted in 1865, the concluding year of the American Civil War, the work depicts four African American Union Army teamsters sitting on the sunny side of a Sibley tent. The painting is in the collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco-(De Young)

<i>Snap the Whip</i> Painting by Winslow Homer

Snap the Whip is an 1872 oil painting by the American artist Winslow Homer. It depicts a group of children playing crack the whip in a field in front of a small red schoolhouse. With more of America's population moving to cities, the portrait depicts the simplicity of rural agrarian life that Americans were beginning to leave behind in the post-Civil War era, evoking a mood of nostalgia.

<i>The Fog Warning</i> Painting by Winslow Homer

The Fog Warning is one of several paintings on marine subjects by the late-19th-century American painter Winslow Homer (1836–1910). Together with The Herring Net and Breezing Up, painted the same year and also depicting the hard lives of fishermen in Maine, it is considered among his best works on such topics.

<i>Moonlight, Wood Island Light</i> Painting by Winslow Homer

Moonlight, Wood Island Light is a late 19th-century oil painting by American artist Winslow Homer. The painting is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

<i>Approaching Thunder Storm</i> Painting by Martin Johnson Heade

Approaching Thunder Storm is an 1859 painting by American painter Martin Johnson Heade. It was his largest painting to date. The painting is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is praised for its dramatic depiction of the threatening mood of blackening skies and eerily illuminated terrain prior to the storm itself. The painting has been connected to mounting tensions before the Civil War, which were often expressed in terms of natural imagery.

<i>The Veteran in a New Field</i> Painting by Winslow Homer

The Veteran in a New Field is an oil-on-canvas painting by the 19th-century American artist Winslow Homer. It is set in the aftermath of the American Civil War and is often interpreted as an emblem of postwar American society. The painting depicts a farmer harvesting wheat in a field with a scythe. The farmer in the painting is identified as a former Union soldier from his discarded jacket and canteen in the right foreground of the painting. This painting was one of several that Homer did on the American Civil War, including his previous works Home, Sweet Home and Prisoners from the Front. The Veteran in a New Field is a transitional painting in Homer's body of work. It comments on the postwar return of soldiers to daily life and the history of death that they bring along with them. It uses biblical themes to comment on war and nature, while also alluding to stories from classical history.

<i>Grace Hoops</i> Painting by Winslow Homer

Grace Hoops is a genre painting by the American artist Winslow Homer. It depicts two young women outdoors playing the game of graces. Scenes of childhood innocence constituted one of Homer's recurring subjects throughout the 1870s. The work is now in the collection of the McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College, having been donated as part of the Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch collection.

References

  1. "Prisoners from the Front". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
  2. "Masterpieces of American Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
  3. Schjeldahl, Peter. "The Seething Hell". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  4. "Prinsoners from the front,1866 by Winslow Homer". www.winslowhomer.org. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  5. 1 2 3 Pohl, Frances (2011). "Black and White in America". Nineteenth-Century Art: A Critical History (4th ed.). Thames and Hudson. pp. 205–231.
  6. 1 2 3 Harvey, Eleanor Jones (2012). The Civil War and American Art. Smithsonian American Art Museum.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. Simpson, Marc (1988). Winslow Homer: Paintings of the Civil War. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. Conn, Steven (2002). Narrative Trauma and Civil War History Painting, or Why Are These Pictures so Terrible?. pp. 17–42.