Snap the Whip

Winslow Homer American

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 763

Snap the Whip celebrates the pleasures of childhood in a rough-and-tumble game. Homer’s barefoot boys are determined and exuberant—an optimistic symbol of the nation’s future after the destruction of the Civil War, and a popular centennial theme. The teamwork and coordination involved in the game were seen as essential qualities for reuniting the country, though Homer suggested the challenges ahead through a break in the human chain. The scene is infused with nostalgia, immortalizing the little red schoolhouse just as the nation was shifting away from its agrarian past toward an increasingly urbanized future.

Snap the Whip, Winslow Homer (American, Boston, Massachusetts 1836–1910 Prouts Neck, Maine), Oil on canvas, American

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Snap the Whip, Winslow Homer (American, Boston, Massachusetts 1836–1910 Prouts Neck, Maine), Oil on canvas, American
Snap the Whip, Winslow Homer (American, Boston, Massachusetts 1836–1910 Prouts Neck, Maine), Oil on canvas, American
Snap the Whip, Winslow Homer (American, Boston, Massachusetts 1836–1910 Prouts Neck, Maine), Oil on canvas, American

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