Artist:
Winslow Homer
(American, 1836 - 1910)
Building "Fort Ethan Allen" South of Chain Bridge
Medium: Pencil on paper
Date: ca. 1861
Dimensions:
9 1/2 × 13 3/8 in. (24.1 × 34 cm)
Accession number: 91.4
Curatorial Remarks"In a letter dated May 24th, 1987, Abigail Booth Gerdts (from the Winslow Homer catalogue raisonne) states that Lloyd Goodrich says this drawing may be accepted as an 'on-site' reportorial notation made by Homer while with the Army of the Potomac on a campaign into Virginia in the spring of 1862. Homer was in the field at that time on assignment for the periodical, Harper's Weekly."
The date appears to autumn 1861 when Union forces were building defenses on the Virginia side of the Potomac. The drawing depicts one of several forts built that fall, which is now between Arlington and McLean, Virginia.
The date appears to autumn 1861 when Union forces were building defenses on the Virginia side of the Potomac. The drawing depicts one of several forts built that fall, which is now between Arlington and McLean, Virginia.