The Family Record, from "Harper's Bazar," Vol. VIII

The Family Record, from "Harper's Bazar," Vol. VIII by Winslow Homer, created in 1875, is a significant wood engraving reflecting American domestic life during the post-Civil War era. This classification as a print highlights Homer’s extensive career contributing illustrations to popular periodicals like Harper’s Bazar, serving both editorial and artistic purposes and making his work accessible to a wide 19th-century audience.

The composition centers on a multi-generational family gathered indoors, portraying a moment of quiet ceremony. A man, likely the patriarch, is shown seated and intensely engaged in the act of writing, presumably updating the titular family record. Surrounding him are several women and infants, emphasizing enduring themes of lineage, domestic history, and continuity within the American home. Homer skillfully captures the intimacy of this private scene, utilizing the precise, linear marks characteristic of the wood engraving technique to render the details of clothing and the interior setting.

While Homer is most widely recognized for his oil paintings and watercolors, his prolific output of prints and illustrations cemented his reputation and offered some of his most widely distributed images. This particular illustration provides valuable insight into the period's cultural values regarding documentation and the central importance placed on the nuclear and extended family unit. The print currently resides in the respected collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, preserving this important example of 19th-century American illustration.