Winslow Homer · 1872

Snap the Whip

Posters from $15.00 CAD · Canvas from $39.00 CAD

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Eight schoolboys playing crack-the-whip in a New England field on a clear afternoon — Homer's nostalgic vision of American boyhood. The Met.

Up to 14 × 8 in · landscape

Size

Larger sizes are unavailable for this painting because the source scan's resolution wouldn't print at gallery quality.

Format & finish

Archival cotton canvas stretched over a wooden frame. Ready to hang as-is. No external frame.

Scale next to a 5'10" person

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Hand-printed in Ottawa

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Materials & quality

›Canvas & inks

Giclée-printed on archival cotton canvas with fade-resistant pigment inks, hand-stretched over wooden bars. Gallery-wrapped — ready to hang with no extra frame needed.

›Floater frame

Hand-finished solid wood floater frame in five finishes. The canvas sits inside with a clean shadow gap — the way galleries hang contemporary canvas.

›Posters

Premium archival paper — 200 gsm soft matte or 230 gsm vibrant glossy. Ships flat or rolled, ready for your own frame.

›Faithful to the source

Printed from the highest-resolution museum and archive scans available. Each painting's maximum size is capped at what its source scan can support at gallery quality.

About this painting

The story of Snap the Whip

Snap the Whip is the name of two almost identical 1872 oil paintings by the American artist Winslow Homer. It depicts a group of children playing crack the whip in a field in front of a small red schoolhouse. With more of America's population moving to cities, the portrait depicts the simplicity of rural agrarian life that Americans were beginning to leave behind in the post-Civil War era, evoking a mood of nostalgia.

Adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the artist

Winslow Homer

Winslow Homer was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters of 19th-century America and a preeminent figure in American art in general.

All Winslow Homer prints →

Biography adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Frequently asked

Snap the Whip— questions & answers

›What does Snap the Whip represent?

It depicts schoolboys playing crack the whip in a field in front of a small red schoolhouse. Painted in 1872, as more of America's population moved to cities, it evokes nostalgia for the simple rural life Americans were leaving behind after the Civil War.

›Where is Snap the Whip located?

Homer painted two almost identical versions in 1872; one is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Pairs well with