Summer in the Country

Regarded as one of the great American Realists of the nineteenth century, Winslow Homer is known primarily for his large body of works in oil and watercolor. However, he also had an early career as a freelance illustrator, making drawings for wood engravings that were reproduced in mass-circulation periodicals such as Harper’s Weekly. In 1998, the Brooklyn Museum received a generous gift of more than 250 wood-engraved illustrations by Homer from Harvey Isbitts.

Here, Homer illustrates a group of women playing croquet, which was "imported" to the United States from England in the early 1860s and soon became the most popular outdoor summer game in the country. 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 "[croquet] can be played with equal facility by ladies and gentlemen, skill and ingenuity being much more important to success than mere physical strength."