Study for ‘Pathetic Song’

Thomas Eakins prints bring the rowers, boxers, musicians and thoughtful faces of nineteenth-century Philadelphia into your home. Eakins is widely seen as one of the most important American artists, a realist who painted exactly what he saw, from surgeons at work to athletes on the river. Our collection of fine art prints includes his rowing pictures, The Gross Clinic, his boxing and wrestling scenes, music pictures, hunting scenes on the Delaware and many portraits.

About Thomas Eakins

Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins was born in Philadelphia on 25 July 1844, the son of Benjamin Eakins, a writing master and calligraphy teacher. As a boy he loved rowing, skating, swimming, wrestling and sailing, all later subjects of his art. He excelled at mechanical drawing at Central High School, enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1861, and also took courses in anatomy and dissection at Jefferson Medical College.

From 1866 to 1870 he studied in Paris, mainly with Jean-Léon Gérôme at the École des Beaux-Arts and also with the portrait painter Léon Bonnat. A six-month stay in Spain confirmed his admiration for the realism of Velázquez and Ribera. Back in Philadelphia he painted a series of rowing scenes, starting with Max Schmitt in a Single Scull (1871), and in 1875 the huge Gross Clinic, showing a surgeon operating before his students.

Eakins became a professor at the Pennsylvania Academy in 1878 and its director in 1882. His teaching put the live model, anatomy and photography at the centre, and his students included Henry Ossawa Tanner and Thomas Anshutz. In 1884 he married Susan Macdowell, a strong painter and former student. In 1886 he was forced to resign after removing a male model's loincloth in a class with women present, a setback that stayed with him. He kept painting portraits and figures for another thirty years, with little recognition, and died in Philadelphia on 25 June 1916.

Style and Subjects

Eakins painted the people of his own city with an unflinching eye. His portraits are serious, honest and often a little melancholy, more interested in character than flattery. He loved the human body in motion: oarsmen on the Schuylkill, boxers between rounds, wrestlers, swimmers, and he planned his pictures with careful perspective drawings and studies from life.

He was also a pioneer of motion photography and used the camera to understand movement. The collection covers his rowing and sports pictures, the musical scenes such as The Pathetic Song, domestic interiors, hunting scenes on the Delaware, studies and many portraits of friends, clergy and Philadelphia figures.

Famous Works

• Max Schmitt in a Single Scull (1871), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. His first and most famous rowing picture, with Eakins himself in a scull behind his friend.
• The Biglin Brothers Turning the Stake (1873). His largest rowing picture, giving the fullest treatment of the athletes' muscular bodies in motion.
• The Gross Clinic (1875), Philadelphia Museum of Art. The surgeon Samuel D. Gross operating before his students, one of his largest works and by some counted his greatest.
• The Chess Players (1876), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. A dark, quiet interior that was much admired at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition.
• Swimming (1885), Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth. Also known as The Swimming Hole, it holds his finest studies of the nude in his most successful outdoor composition.
• The Agnew Clinic (1889), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. His most important commission and largest painting, showing the surgeon David Hayes Agnew.
• Between Rounds (1898), Philadelphia Museum of Art. A boxer resting in his corner, from his series of late boxing pictures.

Decorating with Eakins Prints

Eakins's rowing pictures are a classic choice for a study, office or den. A print like Max Schmitt in a Single Scull or The Biglin Brothers Racing has calm water, clear light and a sense of discipline that suits a workspace, and makes a fine gift for a rower or sports fan.

The boxing and wrestling scenes, such as Between Rounds and Taking the Count, suit a home gym or games room. For a music room or living room, choose The Pathetic Song or one of his thoughtful portraits, which look well against dark, warm walls.

FAQ

What art movement was Thomas Eakins part of?

Eakins was a realist. He painted directly from life, with close study of anatomy and perspective, and he is often called the strongest and most profound realist in American art of his time.

What is Thomas Eakins's most famous painting?

The Gross Clinic (1875), in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is his most famous and ambitious work. Max Schmitt in a Single Scull (1871) is his best-known rowing picture.

Why was Thomas Eakins forced to resign from the Pennsylvania Academy?

In 1886 he removed the loincloth of a male model during a class where women students were present. The Academy forced him to resign, and the scandal damaged his career.

Did Thomas Eakins use photography?

Yes. He was interested in the motion studies of Eadweard Muybridge, helped bring him to lecture in Philadelphia in 1883, and used the camera himself to study movement and anatomy. He is now seen as an innovator in motion photography.

Related Artists

• Jean-Léon Gérôme: his teacher in Paris, whom he greatly admired
• Léon Bonnat: portrait painter in whose Paris studio Eakins also studied
• Henry Ossawa Tanner: one of his students at the Pennsylvania Academy
• Thomas Pollock Anshutz: another of his students at the Pennsylvania Academy
• Mary Cassatt: fellow student at the Pennsylvania Academy, who also studied with Gérôme