George Blake's Letter

Winslow Homer

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

This illustration for the serialized novel Susan Fielding depicts a scene soon after the heroine has learned that her fiancé, Tom Collinson, is returning to claim her as his bride. Sadly, she reads a letter from her true love, George Blake, in which he entreats her for one final meeting before she marries. Of the five illustrations Homer produced for this novel, only this one approaches his work in oils in terms of its pictorial strength and depth of feeling, and indeed, it bears striking similarity to a number of his canvases depicting solitary women dating from the early 1870s.

Caption

Winslow Homer American, 1836–1910. George Blake's Letter, 1870. Wood engraving, Sheet: 9 x 5 5/8 in. (22.9 x 14.3 cm) Image: 6 1/2 x 4 1/2 in. (16.5 x 11.4 cm) Frame: 20 x 15 x 1 1/2 in. (50.8 x 38.1 x 3.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Harvey Isbitts, 1998.105.142. No known copyright restrictions (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1998.105.142_bw.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

American Art

Title

George Blake's Letter

Date

1870

Medium

Wood engraving

Classification

Print

Dimensions

Sheet: 9 x 5 5/8 in. (22.9 x 14.3 cm) Image: 6 1/2 x 4 1/2 in. (16.5 x 11.4 cm) Frame: 20 x 15 x 1 1/2 in. (50.8 x 38.1 x 3.8 cm)

Inscriptions

Lower left, below image: "Drawn by Winslow Homer."

Credit Line

Gift of Harvey Isbitts

Accession Number

1998.105.142

Rights

No known copyright restrictions

This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

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