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Archive for ‘Eakins’ posts
Dec 20 2010
Arcadia by Thomas Eakins, 1883
Academician / American / Eakins / Greco-Roman / Paintings (Reproductions) - 1 year ago - troycapc
A reproduction of Thomas Eakins’s masterpiece, “Arcadia” of about 1883. This is a stylized rustic reverie based on the romanticized notion of Arcadia, the most rural part of Ancient Greece. Like several other works by Eakins, this piece was controversial in those Victorian times. The original is in the Metropolitan Museum o f Art, New York.
Dec 19 2010
Wrestlers by Thomas Eakins, 1899
Academician / American / Eakins / Paintings (Reproductions) - 1 year ago - troycapc
This is a reproduction of Thomas Eakins’ classic, “Wrestlers” of 1899. This is one of Eakins’ greatest works and the first completed genre painting. It dramatically portrays interplay of masculine muscles in a wrestling match apparently being waged in a gymnasium. It is the last sports painting of the master as well as his last study of the male form. Eakins was fifty-five years old when this was completed. This major work is an American expression of the realistic academecians yet it has subtle marks which extend it into a more modern realm. The half figures cut off by the right frame, the meandering length of rope in the background and the juxtaposition of taut and loosened skin all point to a modern eye. Thomas Eakins died seventeen years after he produced this painting which is in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Aug 28 2010
The Swimming Hole of 1885 by Thomas Eakins
Academician / American / Eakins / Paintings (Reproductions) - 1 year ago - troycapc
Thomas Eakins’s masterpiece, “The Swimming Hole, 1885. This is the artist’s most accomplished portrayal of the male nude and depicts himself and five friends on a creek near Philadelphia. The piece was controversial in those Victorian times and the painting was returned by the commissioner and remained in the artist’s possession until his death in 1916. The original is in the Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.
Jan 28 2010
The Crucifixion by Thomas Eakins, 1880
Eakins / Paintings (Reproductions) - 2 years ago - troycapc
Thomas Eakins' breathtaking depiction of the Christ
In this masterpiece of 19th century American Realism, Eakins dramatically portrays the Christ as awkwardly suspended between two realms: the elevated and perfect spiritual realm and the dirty, mundane physical realm. Below the Son of God is the grime of the world, which has soiled his feet. But above the waist the body of Christ is almost serene in its pose, the head delicately bowed in submission to the inevitable.
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In many ways, The Crucifixion has a deliberately unresolved quality. Eakins starkly contrasts the dirt and grit of the bottom of the painting with the divine calm expressed by the upper body and bowed head. Additionally, Eakins positions the viewer at the center of the body rather than at the traditional perspective from the feet. In fact, Eakins appears to demystify the traditional subject purposefully, infusing the scene with an earthly reality: this is an essentially human Jesus being executed by the Romans.
About the Artist:
Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins remains one of the most important of all American artists. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he began at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1861 at the age of seventeen years. In 1866 he left to study in Europe for four years where he studied in Paris under Jean-Leon Gerome and in Spain attempted his first large paintings.
Returning to Philadelphia at twenty-six, he began producing paintings which garnered him some acclaim. In 1876, he volunteered to teach at the Pennsylvania Academy and within six years he was director of the academy. His progressive teaching methods earned the Academy a reputation as one of the most advanced in the world by the 1880s. His liberal views, however, caused a split with the Academy in 1886, inspiring the creation of the alternative Art Students’ League of Philadelphia, where Eakins taught until 1898. He died in 1916.
The Crucifixion:
The Crucifixion is yet another of example of a hallmark of all of Eakins’ work: realistic depictions of the imperfections that exist in the real world. Eakins’ preoccupation with depicting the gritty reality of the crucifixion flew in the face of traditional images, which prior depicted the scene in a more ethereal manner. When the painting was first unveiled, women are said to have fainted at the sight.
Yet despite the gritty realism, Christ’s body is depicted as calm in the midst of agony and pain. This can be seen in the contrast between the smooth lines of the corpus and the jagged writing of the superscription above Jesus’ head. In this way, Eakins has successfully depicted Christ as both more human and more transcendent.
Many consider this to be Eakins’ greatest work, and we are proud to offer reproductions of this American masterpiece by one of the most important of American artists.
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