A Visit from the Old Mistress
1876 Smithsonian American Art Museum
About this artwork
This oil painting depicts a stark encounter between a formerly enslaved family and their former mistress in the post-Civil War American South. It is part of the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Did you know?
Painted during the Reconstruction era, this work captures the complex social dynamics of the post-slavery South. Homer highlights the strained power shift and silent tension between the formerly enslaved women, who stand firmly on their own ground, and the white woman whose former status is no longer absolute. The painting is widely considered a profound examination of the racial and economic shifts in American life following the Civil War.
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A Visit from the Old Mistress
Winslow Homer, 1876
