Winslow homer boston museum of fine arts

The Civil War redefined America and forever changed American art. American artists could not glamorize the hero on the battlefield. The tension in this painting is palpable. The stare down between these two women is discomforting and extremely effective. But Homer made a pivotal change in this painting. Between the time that he first painted it and the time that he sold it, he painted out what we can now see, which is the right arm of the white woman held close to her chest.

It seems the former mistress may once have carried a red flower, perhaps a goodwill offering or a symbol of her own heartache, but Homer painted out this softening element and left the final image as one of stark confrontation. In doing so, he winnowed and concentrated the meeting, focusing on the tension between black and white and the unresolved issues at the end of the war.

We can now see this arm, in part because over the last years, the paint that Homer used to mask this has become slightly transparent and the ghost of that image of a hand clasping a flower can now be seen.

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