La Petite Angelina and Miss C. Thompson 1859

Winslow Homer made this wood engraving of La Petite Angelina and Miss C. Thompson, sometime in the late 19th century, and it appeared in an illustrated magazine. Here, Homer depicts a dance performance in front of a well-dressed audience. The image creates meaning through its visual codes, referencing ballet and the theater, elite cultural institutions of the time. It shows the cultural life of post-Civil War America, when the country’s economy was booming. The rise of commercial print media helped democratize access to the arts and culture, but it also created a star system and a culture of celebrity around performers such as these dancers. To understand the role of art in the rapidly changing social landscape of late 19th century America, historians can consult periodicals like the one where this print first appeared. The meaning of art is always contingent on the social and institutional context in which it's created.