The Army of the Potomac – A Sharp-Shooter on Picket Duty

Winslow Homer, The Army of the Potomac--A Sharp-Shooter on Picket Duty, 1862, wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of International Business Machines Corporation, 1966.48.81
Winslow Homer, The Army of the Potomac--A Sharp-Shooter on Picket Duty, 1862, wood engraving on paper, image: 9 1813 34 in. (23.235.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of International Business Machines Corporation, 1966.48.81
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Artwork Details

Title
The Army of the Potomac – A Sharp-Shooter on Picket Duty
Date
1862
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
image: 9 1813 34 in. (23.235.1 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of International Business Machines Corporation
Mediums Description
wood engraving on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — tree
  • Object — weapon — gun
  • Figure male — full length
  • Occupation — military — soldier
  • History — United States — Civil War
Object Number
1966.48.81

Artwork Description

Winslow Homer created an image of a Union sharpshooter while working as an artist-correspondent for Harper's Weekly during the Civil War. The soldier looks through the sight of a telescopic rifle as he searches for a target. Sharpshooters were called for duty when there was a lull in the action and weary soldiers from both North and South were resting. Reviled as "murderers" by both sides, sharpshooters usually were executed if captured. Years after the Civil War ended, Homer recounted his memory of peering through the scope in a company of Union sharpshooters. "I looked through one of their rifles once when they were in a peach orchard in front of Yorktown in April, 1862," he recalled. "The . . . impression struck me as being as near murder as anything I ever think of in connection with the army & I always had a horror of that branch of the service."

The Great American Hall of Wonders, 2011

Works by this artist (2 items)

Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, State Names, 2000, oil, collage and mixed media on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Elizabeth Ann Dugan and museum purchase, 2004.28
State Names
Date2000
oil, collage and mixed media on canvas
Not on view
Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, Untitled, from the portfolio Indian Self-Rule, 1983, color lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Institute of the American West, 1984.78.3, © Jaune Quick-To-See Smith
Untitled, from the portfolio Indian Self-Rule
Date1983
color lithograph on paper
Not on view

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