Driving Home the Corn and Dance after the Husking (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. II)

"Driving Home the Corn and Dance after the Husking (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. II)" by Winslow Homer is a significant early wood engraving dating to 1858. Executed for the widely circulated periodical Harper's Weekly, this print exemplifies the American public’s appetite for visual reportage on rural customs and culture just prior to the Civil War. Homer, still early in his career, frequently contributed graphic illustrations capturing scenes of daily life.

The composition is conceptually divided, illustrating two distinct but related aspects of the agrarian calendar. The first half depicts the culmination of the harvest labor, showing men utilizing the power of working animals to drive wagons heavily laden with corn back towards the homesteads. This focuses on the necessary effort and machinery of 19th-century farming.

The second half of the composition transitions to a scene of communal leisure and celebration: the dance after the husking. Here, the focus shifts entirely to social interaction, showing men and women engaging in a lively, informal dance within a rustic interior. This illustration emphasizes the strong community bonds and the importance of shared festivity that followed successful agricultural work.

As a high-quality print, the detailed line work inherent in the wood engraving medium showcases Homer’s precise observational skills. This piece offers valuable documentation of social customs prevalent in the late 1850s and highlights the transition between labor and recreation within American society. This important early work by Homer is maintained in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.