The Brierwood Pipe

Homer’s intimate Civil War scene captures two soldiers sharing a quiet moment behind the lines, one carving a brierwood pipe while the other watches. Painted from sketches Homer made as an artist-correspondent during the Union campaign in Virginia, the small canvas reflects the war’s unglamorous daily reality.
The painting is now in the Cleveland Museum of Art (accession 1944.524), from the Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund.