EAKINS, THOMAS

born July 25, 1844, Philadelphia died June 25, 1916, Philadelphia painter who carried the tradition of 19th-century American Realism to perhaps its highest achievement. He painted mainly portraits of his friends and scenes of outdoor sports, such as swimming and boating (e.g., Max Schmitt in a Single Scull, 1871). Because of its frank and unsentimental nature, the work generally acknowledged as his masterpiece, The Gross Clinic (1875), which depicts a surgical operation, was received with distaste by his contemporaries. Additional reading Lloyd Goodrich, Thomas Eakins: His Life and Work (1933), is the principal monograph on Eakins. Other books of interest on the subject are Fairfield Porter, Thomas Eakins (1959); and Sylvan Schendler, Eakins (1967). The largest collection of works by Thomas Eakins is to be found in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. There are also substantial collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and at the Yale University Art Gallery. Major Works: All paintings in oils unless otherwise noted. A Street Scene in Seville (1870; Mrs. John R. Garrett, Sr. Collection); Home Scene (1871; Brooklyn Museum, New York); Max Schmitt in a Single Scull (1871; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City); Katherine (1872; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.); The Pair-Oared Shell (1872; Philadelphia Museum of Art); The Biglin Brothers Turning the Stake (1873; Cleveland Museum of Art); John Biglin in a Single Scull (watercolour, 1873; Metropolitan Museum of Art); Sailing (1874; Philadelphia Museum of Art); Pushing for Rail (1874; Metropolitan Museum of Art); The Gross Clinic (1875; Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia); Will Schuster and Blackman Going Shooting (1876; Yale University Art Gallery); Chess Players (1876; Metropolitan Museum of Art); William Rush Carving His Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River (1877; Philadelphia Museum of Art); The Fairman Rogers Four-in-Hand (1879; Philadelphia Museum of Art); The Crucifixion (1880; Philadelphia Museum of Art); The Pathetic Song (1881; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.); The Swimming Hole (1883; Fort Worth Art Center Museum, Fort Worth, Texas); Lady with a Setter Dog (Mrs. Eakins) (1885; Metropolitan Museum of Art); Walt Whitman (1887; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia); Letitia Wilson Jordan Bacon (1888; Brooklyn Museum); Miss Van Buren (c. 1889; Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.); The Agnew Clinic (1889; University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia); Professor Henry A. Rowland (1891; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Mass.); The Concert Singer (1892; Philadelphia Museum of Art); Frank Hamilton Cushing (189495; Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Tulsa, Okla.); Taking the Count (1898; Yale University Art Gallery); Salutat (1898; Addison Gallery of American Art); Between Rounds (1899; Philadelphia Museum of Art); Benjamin Eakins (1899; Philadelphia Museum of Art); Mrs. William D. Frishmuth (1900; Philadelphia Museum of Art); The Thinker: Louis N. Kenton (1900; Metropolitan Museum of Art); Self-Portrait (1902; National Academy of Design, New York); Mrs. Edith Mahon (1904; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass.); Monsignor Diomede Falconio (1905; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.).