The Bright Side

The Bright Side by the American artist Winslow Homer (1836-1910), was made while he was attached to the Union Army during the US Civil War. Homer was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1836.  In 1859 Homer enrolled at the National Academy of Design in New York and studied with Frédéric Rondel, who taught him the basics of painting in oils.  Homer is regarded by many as the greatest of the American painters in the nineteen century is best known of his marine subjects. 

In The Bright Side, four tired teamsters doze off in the morning sun and a fifth looks around to see who might be disturbing his rest.  Many Union Army teamsters were free blacks from northern states or former slaves from the South who had escaped through Union lines to join the war effort.

In 1865, when The Bright Side was painted, the Confederacy was near defeat.  When the war was over, the teamsters and other free blacks migrated into the cities seeking employment.  As most migrants they were confronted by white workers feeling threatened by the influx of new labor. Political freedom would not mean the end of hard times.

Since 1865 when Homer painted The Bright Side, generations of Americans have viewed this image and felt empathy for the black teamsters, but the hardworking men in this scene are obviously too tired after laboring all night to bring supplies into camp.  They have found a sunny spot where they can bask in the satisfaction of a job well done.

JAMA. 2016;315(24):2650-2651.