Collections: American Art: Summer in the Country

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Summer in the Country

The game of croquet was “imported” to the United States from England in the early 1860s, and it soon became the most popular outdoor summer game in the country. As the accompanying text states, croquet was valued because it was a healthful “means of tempting young women into the air and sun.” Young women (and men) also liked the game because it afforded a safe, socially acceptable opportunity for flirtation. It was noted in another article that the “[croquet] can be played with equal facility by ladies and gentlemen, skill and ingenuity being much more important to success than mere physical strength.”



• Artist: Winslow Homer, American, 1836-1910
• Engraver: John Karst, born Germany 1836-1911
• Medium: Wood engraving
• Dates: 1869
• Dimensions: Image: 4 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. (11.4 x 16.5 cm) Sheet: 10 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. (27.3 x 19.7 cm) Frame: 20 x 15 x 1 1/2 in. (50.8 x 38.1 x 3.8 cm)
• Collections: American Art
• Museum Location: This item is not on view
• Accession Number: 1998.105.129
• Credit Line: Gift of Harvey Isbitts
• Image: Page, 1998.105.129_page_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Winslow Homer (American, 1836-1910). Summer in the Country, 1869. Wood engraving, Image: 4 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. (11.4 x 16.5 cm) Sheet: 10 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. (27.3 x 19.7 cm) Frame: 20 x 15 x 1 1/2 in. (50.8 x 38.1 x 3.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Harvey Isbitts, 1998.105.129 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1998.105.129_page_bw.jpg)
• Catalogue Description: Page from Appleton's Journal of Literature, Science and Art, July 10, 1869, vol. 1, p. 465 Drawn by Winslow Homer, engraved by John Karst