High Tide 1870

Editor: Here we have Winslow Homer’s “High Tide,” a wood engraving from 1870. The stark black and white and the detail of the engraving is so compelling, there is this busy cross-hatching creating shading that gives the sense of texture. It depicts a scene at the beach with people in swimsuits. What's your perspective on this piece? Curator: For me, it's the medium of wood engraving that really speaks to the piece. Think about the labor involved! It’s not just Homer's artistic vision, but the skilled craftspeople translating that into a reproducible image for mass consumption. It transforms this image into something that considers commerce, labour, and everyday life. Editor: Mass consumption? That's interesting. So it was designed to be reproduced? Curator: Absolutely! These engravings appeared in periodicals, bringing art to a wider audience beyond traditional galleries. The material is crucial: the wood, the tools used to carve it, the printing presses that transferred the image to paper, each of which involved artisans whose labor is literally impressed upon the final product. Editor: It really changes my view of the piece to think of it in terms of mass production and labour. Curator: Exactly! It raises questions about accessibility and the blurring lines between high art and the workaday world. Who made it? How did they make it? Where was it made? How did it travel to get into my hands? Focusing on the material, like the paper or the wood, helps us get at who these invisible laborers were and their roles in the broader production of art. The image becomes part of this circulation of material objects that shapes our lives. Editor: This is an unusual perspective to me but now I see and value this work even more. It also inspires a lot more questions for me. Curator: Precisely, the goal is to create conversation, to consider those typically outside art.