Boy and Girl on a Plow 1879

Winslow Homer made this sketch of a boy and girl on a plow at an unknown date with graphite on paper. Homer was a prominent artist in late 19th-century America, a period marked by significant social and economic changes. The Civil War had ended just a few years before and the country was grappling with Reconstruction, industrialization, and urbanization. Homer's work often reflected these shifts, and it's worth looking closely at how this sketch might speak to them. The plow, a tool of agriculture, suggests a connection to rural life and the land. Perhaps Homer was looking at the changing roles of children in a rapidly industrializing society? Were they increasingly being taken out of schools and put to work in agriculture? As historians of art, we can examine other sketches and paintings by Homer, his writings, and the critical reception of his work to further understand this drawing and what he may have wanted to convey.