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The Veteran in a New Field

By Winslow Homer

Author Award for November 2025

Painted shortly after the end of the American Civil War, Winslow Homer's "The Veteran in a New Field" shows a lone figure reaping wheat in a wide, open field. The man is depicted from behind, a visual technique known as Rückenfigur, borrowed from German Romanticism. The figure is a former Union soldier, suggested by the discarded military jacket in the foreground. Though the subject seems peaceful, the painting's subtext is far more complex.

The sickle held by the man is said to resemble the Grim Reaper's scythe. Homer, who had worked as an illustrator during the war, often focused on the human cost of conflict. In "The Veteran in a New Field," he presents a meditation on what comes after war: not triumph, but the difficult work of rebuilding life from what remains.

Year: 1865
Medium: Oil on canvas
Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ownership Stats

Players with unframed copies: 13
Players with framed copies: 15