Rainy Day in Camp
1871
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
20 x 36 in. (50.8 x 91.4 cm)
Classification
Painting
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. William F. Milton, 1923
Accession Number
23.77.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
Winslow Homer’s *Rainy Day in Camp* (1871) captures a quiet moment among Union soldiers during the American Civil War. Painted six years after the conflict ended, the oil-on-canvas scene shows men gathered around sodden tents while horses stand nearby, their forms softened by mist and rain. Homer, who had worked as an illustrator for *Harper’s Weekly* during the war, chose to depict the ordinary rhythms of camp life rather than dramatic battle scenes. The horizontal format and muted palette emphasize the damp chill of the day, inviting viewers to linger over small details—the curve of a tent ...
About the Artist
Winslow Homer · 1836–1910
Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was one of America's greatest painters and a preeminent figure in 19th-century American art. Largely self-taught, Homer began his career as a commercial illustrator and Civil War correspondent for Harper's Weekly before becoming renowned for his powerful marine subjects and landscape paintings. His mastery of both oil and watercolor, combined with his uncompromising reali...