Homer Wilson was a self-taught painter, who worked as an illustrator. At the end of the war, he painted The Veteran in a New Field. This was a realistic painting because Homer focused on an everyday normal ordinary life. He painted a soldier who returned home rather than a soldier in war. He painted the Veteran in a New Field in 1865. The material he used to paint was oil on canvas. He painted it on a two dimensional surface, made to look three dimensional. The picture looks very real. He used thin lines to show the grass that is cut down. The man’s style of clothing shows the time period. In the picture you can see a man facing his back towards the viewers, he is also wielding a Scythe which represents the grim reaper symbolizing death. The color used in the picture is dull showing the thought of death. It shows that the war is over but yet has a lasting impact on lives of people.
This painting is very simple and straight forward yet it is very significant. It shows the effects of the Civil War on regular people’s lives and the effects on the whole nation. In this painting there is a figure that is known to be a soldier in the war. This is identified because he has a uniform thrown on the ground. The soldier just returned home from war and he
…show more content…
During that time farmers used cradled scythes to harvest wheat. Here Homer used symbolism rather than realism. He deliberately used an incorrect agricultural tool. He painted a single-bladed scythe, which looks something like what the Grim Reaper has. Thus, representing death through the figure Grim Reaper. The Grim Reaper symbolically is cutting down people’s lives rather than cutting down grass many soldiers died during the Civil War and that’s what Homer is trying to represent here. He’s trying to show the tragedy of their death. In addition to that, he is also showing the grieving of President Abraham Lincoln, who was recently assassinated during that