Dressing for the Carnival
1877 · Oil on canvas · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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About this work
- Artist
- Winslow Homer (1836–1910)
- Year
- 1877
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 50.8 × 76.2 cm
- Collection
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Movement
- Realism
In a sunlit yard in Virginia, two women sew a bright yellow and red costume onto a man standing between them, while a group of children watches and a small girl hangs back by the fence. Homer painted it after visiting Petersburg, Virginia, in the late 1870s, and the costume recalls the Caribbean-rooted Jonkonnu masquerade that formerly enslaved communities brought to holiday celebrations. It is one of a small group of pictures in which Homer looked closely and respectfully at Black family life after Emancipation. The Metropolitan Museum bought it in 1922.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A warm green-and-gold scene with a burst of red and yellow for a living room, study or hallway in a dark wood frame. It suits warm white, olive or terracotta walls at 24×16 and pairs with Homer's The Veteran in a New Field.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Realism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1877)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- living room, hallway or entryway, study or library, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×16. Prints at 18×12, 24×16 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; dark wood warms it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Dressing for the Carnival in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Dressing for the Carnival painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
