“A Visit from the Old Mistress”

“In 1876 Winslow Homer traveled to Virginia and on his return to New York he painted several monumental works that explored the relation- ships between blacks and whites during the Recon-struction period in the South. In this painting titled ‘A Visit from the Old Mistress’ Homer explores the new power relationship between black and white women after the emancipation of the slaves.” The complete podcast by the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution is at ‘The Civil War and American Art with Curator Eleanor Jones Harvey,’ Episode 5 (podcast).

“[T]he women look at each other as though staring across a battlefield. Their faces register a range of emotions, sadness, anger, and even resignation.” The essay continues at
From Slave Mothers & Southern Belles to Radical Reformers & Lost Cause Ladies: ‘A Visit from the Old Mistress‘