Snap the Whip

E31346

Snap the Whip is an 1872 painting by American artist Winslow Homer depicting schoolboys playing in a rural field, often celebrated as an iconic image of post–Civil War American childhood and country life.


Statements (46)
Predicate Object
instanceOf painting
artisticTheme childhood
nostalgia
post–Civil War national identity
rural America
associatedWith American rural education
Reconstruction-era America
colorPalette bright natural light
countryOfOrigin United States
creator Winslow Homer
depicts children playing
country life
game of snap the whip
post–Civil War American childhood
rural landscape
schoolboys
depictsActivity children’s outdoor game
depictsTimePeriod post–Civil War era
describedAs iconic image of American childhood
iconic image of American country life
exhibitedAt Metropolitan Sanitary Fair (historical American art exhibitions)
genre genre painting
realist painting
hasArtHistoricalReception frequently discussed in studies of Winslow Homer
widely reproduced in American culture
hasBackgroundElement distant hills
one-room schoolhouse
open sky
hasCompositionFeature diagonal line of children
hasCulturalSignificance symbol of innocence after the American Civil War
hasInfluenced popular imagery of rural American childhood
hasPerspective observer at ground level
hasVersion Snap the Whip (Butler Institute of American Art version)
Snap the Whip (Metropolitan Museum of Art version)
inception 1872
locationOfCreation United States
mainSubject boys playing in a field
medium oil on canvas
movement American Realism
notableWorkOf Winslow Homer
originalLanguage English
partOf 19th-century American art
setting countryside near a small schoolhouse
rural field
title Snap the Whip
yearCompleted 1872

Referenced by (4)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Snap the Whip ("Snap the Whip (Butler Institute of American Art version)")
Snap the Whip ("Snap the Whip (Metropolitan Museum of Art version)")
hasVersion
Winslow Homer
notableWork
Snap the Whip
title

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