The Last Load 1869

Winslow Homer’s "The Last Load" was published as a wood engraving in Appleton's Journal of Popular Literature in 1875. Homer created illustrations like this for popular magazines throughout his career. "The Last Load" depicts three figures in a field with a hay wagon in the background. In post-Civil War America, there was a nostalgic turn in American art and culture, particularly regarding rural life. Such imagery allowed viewers to look back and reflect on American values. This idyllic scene of agricultural life evokes romantic agrarian values while eliding the economic and political challenges facing farmers at the time, such as labor shortages, soil exhaustion, and falling prices. By studying periodicals and other printed material, we can better understand the historical and cultural contexts for art like this.