Collection
/
American Art

Cutting a Figure

Winslow Homer; W. H. Morse

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

The fashionable little coquette in this image functions as a charming seasonal “pin-up.” The title plays on two meanings of “cutting a figure”—referring both to the girl’s stylishness and to her pursuit of literally cutting a pattern in the ice. Homer created a fine picture that evokes the chill atmosphere and is filled with subtle compositional tensions, such as the relationship of the tree and its reflection in the ice that forms a rigid line along the length of the girl’s body.

Caption

Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910); W. H. Morse (American, active 1851–1879). Cutting a Figure, 1871. Wood engraving, Image: 12 7/8 x 19 7/8 in. (32.7 x 50.5 cm) Sheet: 11 1/8 x 14 5/8 in. (28.3 x 37.1 cm) Frame: 22 3/4 x 28 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (57.9 x 73 x 3.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Harvey Isbitts, 1998.105.167. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

American Art

Title

Cutting a Figure

Date

1871

Medium

Wood engraving

Classification

Print

Dimensions

Image: 12 7/8 x 19 7/8 in. (32.7 x 50.5 cm) Sheet: 11 1/8 x 14 5/8 in. (28.3 x 37.1 cm) Frame: 22 3/4 x 28 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (57.9 x 73 x 3.8 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Harvey Isbitts

Accession Number

1998.105.167

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Artists and makers

Winslow Homer

281 works in the collection

W. H. Morse

2 works in the collection