A Shell in the Trenches before Richmond [recto]

1862

Winslow Homer

Associated Names
Winslow Homer

Artist, American, 1836 - 1910

The image depicts a battlefield scene with figures in trenches. The inscription reads "A shell in the trenches before Richmond." The drawing shows chaotic movement and intensity, sketched with swift lines on brown paper. It captures immediacy and turmoil, possibly representing smoke, dirt, and movement related to an explosion or shell impact. The tone is tense and hectic, with urgency and action conveyed through rough pencil marks.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    charcoal and graphite with watercolor on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Dr. Edmund Louis Gray Zalinski, II

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 17.8 × 25.3 cm (7 × 9 15/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1996.121.14.a

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Goodrich/Gerdts 2005, Vol. I, no. 176-R

Associated Artworks

This drawing depicts two seated individuals. One person is fully covered with a draped cloth, obscuring their head and body. They are hunched forward in a sitting position. The other person is seated in a relaxed pose, wearing a uniform or coat with visible buttons. Their face is partially visible, and they wear a hat. The surrounding area includes rough sketches of fabric hangings and a box with the number "61" on it. The background is minimally detailed with light sketch lines.

Two Soldiers Resting [verso]

Winslow Homer

1862

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Major Edmund Louis Gray Zalinski, New York, by gift of Homer, 1904; Edmund Robbins Zalinski, his son, by bequest, 1909; Edmund Louis Gray Zalinski II, his son, Philadelphia, by gift, 1955; gift to NGA, 1996.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1925

  • Original Drawings of the Civil War by Winslow Homer, Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, New York, 1925

1997

  • Winslow Homer and the Civil War: Recent Acquisitions, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 17 July-21 Sept. 1997

Bibliography

2005

  • Goodrich, Lloyd, and Abigail Booth Gerdts. Record of Works by Winslow Homer, vol. 1. New York: Spanierman Gallery, 2005, p. 215, no. 176-R.

Inscriptions

upper right in graphite: A Shell in the Trenches / before Richmond

Wikidata ID

Q64640342

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