Camp Meeting Sketches - Morning Ablutions 1858

Winslow Homer's "Camp Meeting Sketches" was made in 1860, and reproduced as a wood engraving in "Ballou's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion," a popular illustrated newspaper. The process of wood engraving was laborious, requiring skilled artisans to translate Homer's original sketches onto a block of wood, which would then be inked and printed on a mass scale. Unlike fine art prints, the material and process here put a premium on efficient production for a wide audience. Homer’s image reflects that mass production. He gives us a glimpse into the communal life of a 19th-century religious camp meeting; ordinary people engaging in everyday activities like transportation, washing, and socializing. This glimpse into a Cap Cod community demonstrates how the modes of production - from agriculture and fishing to the social activity of mass gatherings - are interwoven with the spiritual lives of ordinary people. The choice of wood engraving, a democratic medium, underscores the accessibility of both the artwork itself and the scene it depicts, blurring the lines between high art and everyday life.