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Croquet Scene

Painting of four figures in blue, red, brown dresses playing croquet.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • Painting of four figures in blue, red, brown dresses playing croquet.

Date:

1866

Artist:

Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910)

About this artwork

One of America’s foremost painters, Winslow Homer began his career as an illustrator during the Civil War. In the late 1860s, he turned his acute observational and technical skills toward oil painting, depicting figures bathed in sunlight out-of-doors. These early paintings, often executed in series, feature scenes of upper-class leisure pursuits—in this case, women and men competing with one another in the popular sport of croquet, which had recently been introduced to the United States from the British Isles. In Croquet Scene, one of five paintings Homer completed on the subject, progress on “the grand round” seems fairly advanced. The crouching male figure positions the ball belonging to the woman dressed in red. She is about to croquet (or “send up the country”) another ball, probably belonging to the woman in the left foreground, who shields her eyes against the bright afternoon sun. Notable for its bold patterning, strong contours, and brilliant light effects, the painting epitomizes the spirit of a breezy summer afternoon.

Status

On View, Gallery 171

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

Winslow Homer

Title

Croquet Scene

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1866

Medium

Oil on canvas

Inscriptions

Signed, lower right: "WINSLOW HOMER/-66-"

Dimensions

40.3 × 66.2 cm (15 7/8 × 26 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Friends of American Art Collection; Goodman Fund

Reference Number

1942.35

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/44018/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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