Thomas Eakins, 1844-1916
Self portrait, Thomas Eakins, 1904. National Academy of Design, New York. After studying in Europe for nearly four years, the twenty-six-year-old Thomas Eakins returned to Philadelphia, his birthplace, in 1870, where he spent the rest of his life depicting the realities of his milieu with great force and beauty. An uncompromising realism characterizes Thomas Eakins's philosophy of work and life. His rejection of conventional ideas about artistic training (for instance, he required all his students - female, as well as male - to draw from the nude) led, in part, to his forced resignation as director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1886. So, too, he rejected traditional ideas of beauty in his honest and revealing portraits. Not surprisingly, these essentially private portrayals were unpopular during Eakins's day. Thomas Eakins American, 1844-1916 Portrait of Mary Adeline Williams, 1899 Mary Adeline Williams, or Addie, was a ...
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