A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - Winslow Homer
Archival giclée
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Description
A detailed 1863 wood engraving by Winslow Homer, depicting a multi-panel scene of Christmas celebrations in nineteenth-century America.
Published in the 26 December 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly, this wood engraving by Winslow Homer captures the dual nature of American holiday celebrations during the mid-nineteenth century. Homer, who began his career as an illustrator for the periodical, employs a multi-panel composition to contrast the sacred origins of the season with the secular festivities of the era.
The central medallion depicts the Nativity, framed by holly leaves and berries, which serves as the spiritual anchor for the surrounding scenes. To the left, a view of Fifth Avenue shows the urban bustle of New York City, while the right panel presents a rural scene on 5th Street, featuring a horse-drawn sleigh and a more rustic winter atmosphere. The lower portion of the print is dominated by a large, lively gathering of children and adults dancing in a parlour, reflecting the social customs of the period.
Homer uses fine lines and cross-hatching to define the textures of the clothing, the architectural details of the city, and the soft light within the central nativity scene. The work functions as a visual chronicle of American life, documenting the fashion, social interactions, and cultural values of the 1860s. By juxtaposing the religious iconography with the contemporary domestic scene, Homer provides a snapshot of how the holiday was observed across different social and geographic spheres. This print remains a significant example of the wood engraving techniques used in mass-market publications before the advent of modern photographic reproduction, demonstrating the technical skill required to translate complex compositions into a format suitable for high-volume printing.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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We ship worldwide, printing at the production hub nearest to your delivery address. Delivery times and costs vary by destination — you'll see the options available to you at checkout.
Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - Winslow Homer
Artist Biography
Winslow Homer
He moved from illustration to painting without formal training, learning oil technique largely by observation. His early paintings are genre scenes of rural American life: children playing, women on croquet lawns, the kind of post-war pastoral that the public wanted. They sold well. He was dissatisfied with them.
In 1881 he went to Cullercoats, a fishing village in northeast England, and spent two years painting the women who waited on the shore for the fishing boats to return. The Cullercoats paintings are darker, more dramatic, and more serious than anything he had made before. The sea became his subject.
He moved to Prouts Neck, Maine, in 1883 and lived there, mostly alone, for the rest of his life. The Maine paintings, The Gulf Stream, Northeaster, Right and Left, are about the confrontation between human beings and the ocean. The figures are small. The water is enormous. The light is cold. He painted the sea the way Constable painted clouds: from direct observation, over years, until he understood its behaviour.
His watercolours, made on fishing trips to the Adirondacks, Florida, and the Bahamas, are freer and more experimental than the oils. Tropical sunlight and clear water brought out colours he did not use in Maine. He died in 1910, at seventy-four.
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