Thomas Eakins work, The Champion Single Sculls, reflects a late 19th Century notion of American idealism as a sporting, empirical observation. What is prominent about Thomas Eakins’s expression of empirical observation in his art work?
Thomas Eakins found that demonstrating personal experiences in his observations is difficult because the use of color has to be perfect. The colors chosen can really decide the interpretation of the whole experience in the work. Jean-Leon Gerome, one of his school’s most prominent teachers, was an artist whom Thomas Eakins looked up to greatly. The Prisoner, painting by Jean-Leon Gerome, is a famous work that Thomas Eakins analyzed and studied. The Prisoner would influence the rowing pictures that Eakins would paint in America. Simply, The Prisoner has this saddening effect to it, but the The Champion Single Sculls has a happy effect, which is due to the Spanish teaching. After schooling in France, Eakins would go to a sunnier destination in Madrid, Spain. Eakin’s time in Spain allowed him to be free of the cold that had plagued him in Paris. In the words written to his father, Eakins described his experience in Spain, “Spanish work [is] so good so strong so reasonable so free from every affection.” In order to see the work that Eakins was learning from in Spain, the expedition includes Neapolitan Fisherboy-with-shell, a sculpture by Jean Baptiste Carpeaux. The final four works are by Thomas Eakins which show the prominence expressed by his empirical observations. First, The Gross Clinic, a painting done by Thomas Eakins in 1875. The Gross Clinic is one of the most famous American works that demonstrate American realism. “His portrait of Dr. Samuel D. Gross, known as the Gross Clinic, is an icon of American art and possibly the most famous work of American realism. Michael Fried uses Eakins Gross Clinic to suggest that realism often employs shock, violence, and perceptual distortion to heighten impact.” Second, the Home-Scene by Thomas Eakins was created in 1871, the same year as the Champion Single Sculls. Putting this work in the expedition opens your mind to compare and contrast The Gross Clinic and the Home-Scene. How has the teachings of Thomas Eakins led to the main portrait, The Champion Single Sculls? In the main work of the expedition, Eakins brings a calm setting to the painting by the use of color and crisp lines. The painting puts the spotlight on Max Schmitt and Thomas Eakins, but the addition of the surrounding terrain plus the beautiful bridges brings an attractive impression to the painting. The calmness that he creates to the painting is so inviting to the viewer. “It projected a new kind of vision: objective recording based on close observation, without reference to rhetoric or sentiment.” The multilayered scene in the Champion Single Sculls demonstrates the passage of time-past, present, and future. The final piece of the exhibition is Baseball Players Practicing by Thomas Eakins. He really focused on capturing complete experiences rather than just heavily focusing on every object. Through this final piece he added to the notion of American idealism as a sporting, empirical observation.
The Prisoner
1861
Jean-Leon Gerome
Orientalism
Location: Musee des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, Nantes, France
Jean-Leon Gerome most celebrated works by Thomas Eakins. A prisoner is handcuffed and being transported across the Nile by two muscular men in a rowing boat. This work would later influence the American rowing paintings by Thomas Eakins. Eakins respected the dedication to learning about the subject being painted by Gerome. Eakins would apply his artistic integrity to his work for the rest of his career. Compare and contrast the emotional feelings in The Prisoner vs. The Champion Single Sculls.
Neapolitan Fisherboy with Shell
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
Sculpture
Romanticism
Thomas Eakins was learning from Spanish paintings like this work from Jean Baptiste Carpeaux while he was a student in Spain. Eakins loved his time in Spain because he felt the happiness and freedom in their work. Eakins came from the cold and rainy France weather so being by the beautiful beaches of Madrid gave him great excitement. The smile on the fisher boy brings joy to this whole work, and makes the viewer automatically smile. Also, the curiosity of the boy to hear the sounds coming from shell allows you to imagine being at the beach as a child.
The Gross Clinic
1875
Thomas Eakins
Oil on Canvas
198.12 x 243.84 cm
Location: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, US
Thomas Eakins paints an iconic painting for American realism. In The Gross Clinic, Thomas Eakins is looking on the surgery of Dr. Samuel D. Gross. The work is looking at the emergence of medicine. This is what it a surgical procedure looked like in the nineteenth century. During that time in the history of medicine amputation was really the only cure so this painting allows the viewers to see a different view of surgery.
Home Scene
1871
Thomas Eakins
Oil on Canvas
45.9 x 55.1 cm
Location: Brooklyn Museum, New York City, NY, US
This 1871 realism painting is made by Thomas Eakins in Brooklyn, New York City, NY. Eakins creates this painting at the beginning of his successful art career. Eakins found inspiration from Dutch and Spanish artists like Rembrandt van Rijn and Diego Velazquez. In this work, Eakins' sister, Margaret, is overseeing his younger sister, Carolina. At this time, Thomas Eakins’ mom was suffering from a deadly sickness, which is portrayed in the sadness of his sisters emotions.
The Champion Single Sculls
1871
Thomas Eakins
Oil on Canvas
Accession Number: 34.92
Location: MET
This portrait is set on Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It demonstrates the victorious ride of Thomas Eakins friend and amateur oarsman, Max Schmitt, on an October 5, 1870 rowing competition. Eakins had a love for rowing, and he was very knowledgeable about the sport. This was Eakins first painting demonstrating respect for athletes. Eakins narrates an artists freedom in the frame of nature. The Champion Single Sculls is an iconic work for American realism.
Baseball Players Practicing
1875
Thomas Eakins
Watercolor, Paper
This is Thomas Eakins only work devoted to professional baseball. He wanted to expand is domain of historical paintings he had already done. Already, he worked with sports like sailing, swimming, and boxing. Painting professional baseball players gave him the opportunity to work with defined body figures. The baseball players, Wris Fisler and John Clapp, play for the Athletics, a Philadelphia Baseball Club, in 1875. Thomas Eakins took a picture of the players with a camera then painted the scene in his studio.
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