Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) is one of the most fascinating and important personalities in the history of American art. His memorable and much-loved scenes of rowing, sailing, and boxing as well as his deeply moving portraits are renowned for their vibrant realism and dramatic intensity. This beautiful and insightful book, published in conjunction with a major exhibition on the life and career of Eakins--the first in twenty years--presents a fresh perspective on the artist and his remarkable accomplishments.

Lavishly illustrated with more than 250 of Eakins's most significant paintings, watercolors, drawings, photographs, and sculpture, the book features essays by prominent scholars who place his art in the context of the history and culture of late nineteenth-century Philadelphia, where he lived. The contributors also discuss how Eakins applied his French academic training to subjects that were distinctly American and from his own immediate and complex experience. Eakins's own photographs, which he used as part of his unique creative process, are also examined for the first time in the full context of his life's work.

Preface

ANNE D'HARNONCOURT

Thomas Eakins and American Art

DARREL SEWELL

Chronology

KATHLEEN BROWN

Eakins's Early Years

AMY B. WERBEL

Studies in Paris and Spain

H. BARBARA WEINBERG

The 187os

MARC SIMPSON

PLATES Eakins in the 1870s

Images of Fairmount Park in Philadelphia

ELIZABETH MILROY

Eakins and the Academy

KATHLEEN A. FOSTER

The 188os

MARC SIMPSON

PLATES Eakins in the 188os

Eakins's Vision of the Past and the

Building of a Reputation

MARC SIMPSON

Photographs and the Making of Paintings

MARK TUCKER AND NICA GUTMAN

The Camera Artist

W. DOUGLASS PASCHALL

The 189os

MARC SIMPSON

PLATES Eakins in the 1890s

Portraits of Teachers and Thinkers

KATHLEEN A. FOSTER

The 1900s

MARC SIMPSON

PLATES Eakins in the 1900s

The Pursuit of "True Tones"

MARK TUCKER AND NICA GUTMAN

Eakins in the Twentieth Century

CAROL TROYEN

Eakins as a Writer

WILLIAM INNES HOMER

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Works Not Illustrated

Index of Illustrated Works by Thomas Eakins