Trapping in the Adirondacks (from "Every Saturday," Vol. I, New Series)

Art Historical Context

"Trapping in the Adondacks," a wood engraving published in *Every Saturday* magazine on October 24, 1870, captures the rugged allure of 19th-century American wilderness Designed by renowned artist Winslow Homer and engraved by John Parker Davis Fields, Osgood & Co., this print depicts men navigating boats amid the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York—a region increasingly romanticized as a haven for sportsmen and trappers after the Civil War. Homer, a master of Realism, often portrayed everyday laborers and nature's raw beauty, making this scene a vivid snapshot of frontier life. Wood engraving, the print's medium, was a hallmark of the era's mass media, allowing intricate black-and-white images to be reproduced affordably in periodicals. Davis's skilled cutting into the end-grain of boxwood preserved Homer's dynamic composition, emphasizing the interplay of human effort and untamed landscape. Tags like "Men" and "Boats" highlight the central action: trappers at work, evoking self-reliance and adventure. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (acquired via the Harris Brisbane Dick Fund in 1930), this work underscores Homer's pivotal role in popularizing American genre scenes. It invites visitors to reflect on how such illustrations bridged elite art and public culture, fostering national pride in the nation's wild spaces.

About the Artist

Fields, Osgood & Co.|Winslow Homer|John Parker Davis (American|American) · 1830 |1836 –1930 |1910

Boston, Massachusetts|American, Boston, Massachusetts 1836–1910 Prouts Neck, Maine