Thomas Eakins

Thomas C. Eakins (1844–1916) is best known for his portraits and his scenes of athletes such as boxers and oarsmen. With unflinching attention to the psychological makeup of each sitter his work is distinctively American and the antithesis of the flattering portraits such as those painted by John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). Like Rowland he was also a teacher (in Eakins’ case at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts where, in 1882, within four years of becoming a professor, he was named Director). Unlike Rowland, however, in 1886 Eakins was compelled to resign after several drawing classes whose attention to anatomical accuracy offended contemporary sensibilities, e.g. removing a male model’s loincloth in the presence of female students. He went on to teach at a variety of other institutions in his native Philadelphia, in New York and in Washington, before devoting himself full-time to painting from 1898 until his death.