The Robin's Note (from "Every Saturday," Vol. I, New Series)

The Robin's Note (from "Every Saturday," Vol. I, New Series) is a significant wood engraving created by Winslow Homer in 1870. This print, executed in the demanding medium of wood engraving, highlights Homer’s early professional skill in producing striking imagery for the burgeoning illustrated press. The rigorous cross-hatching required by the technique allowed Homer to achieve complex tonal variations, translating the atmospheric qualities often seen in his later watercolors and oil paintings into a reproducible black and white format.

The work was published in the popular American magazine Every Saturday, a key venue for the rapid dissemination of visual culture following the Civil War. The composition focuses on women engaged in a moment of quiet interaction or contemplation, characteristic of Homer’s deep interest in contemporary American domestic and social life. These intimate depictions of women and their private lives were highly marketable to the magazine readership of the era, establishing Homer as a leading illustrator of everyday modern experience.

While these prints served an immediate journalistic function, they are now valued as critical examples of American graphic arts and illustrate a formative period in the artist's career. This piece is held in the renowned collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Because of its age and classification as a historical publication illustration, this image is frequently categorized within the public domain, allowing broader access to Homer’s influential output in early American prints.