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Portrait: A Life of Thomas Eakins
A brilliant historian's reconstruction of the life of an American painter. Thomas Eakins, a native of Philadelphia, painted two worlds: one sure of its valuesthe surgeons, inventors, musicians, and athletes of his timeand another that reflected his own struggles with depression and sexual identity. In this evenhanded account of those struggles, William S. McFeely sheds new light on Eakins's genius and on the evocative melancholy of his portraits, particularly of women, which include many of his remarkable wife, Susan McDowell Eakins. Those deeply perceptive paintings may be the greatest expressions of his art.
One of America's leading historians, McFeely has long been an interpreter of nineteenth-century American writing. A fascinating aspect of this narrative is how he brings the painter into the company of Thoreau, Melville, and Whitman, with whom Eakins formed a deep friendship. The famous painting Swimming , for example, is likened to Walden, Typee, and to passages in Leaves of Grass . 16 pages of color; 40 black-and-white illustrations
One of America's leading historians, McFeely has long been an interpreter of nineteenth-century American writing. A fascinating aspect of this narrative is how he brings the painter into the company of Thoreau, Melville, and Whitman, with whom Eakins formed a deep friendship. The famous painting Swimming , for example, is likened to Walden, Typee, and to passages in Leaves of Grass . 16 pages of color; 40 black-and-white illustrations
256 pages, Hardcover
First published November 20, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 15, 2010
A Conversational Biography of Thomas Eakins
For all of the information that is available about the life and times and legacy of Thomas Eakins (1844 - 1916), considered by many to be the first truly great American painter, each author who approaches the enigmatic artist takes a different stance. For William S. McFeely, an authoritative writer, the purpose of the direction of this book lies in the title - this is a portrait of the life of Eakins, and as such is more concerned with the intellectual, emotional, sexual, and psychological aspects of Eakins that informed his paintings. For some it will work, for others it will seem a bit too conversational and almost gossipy.
Thomas Eakins was greatly influenced/controlled by his fellow sports' lover father who at least had the good sense to encourage the artistic aspect of his son's abilities. Eakins, according to McFeely, had a dark inner life, an almost manic-depressive nature, and it is this psychological conflict that perhaps allowed him to paint some of the most probing portraits of his time. But Eakins was also a man who hungered after experience that would help him develop as an artist. He traveled to Europe and spent a good amount of time training with the master Jean-Léon Gérôme at the École des beaux-arts in Paris and absorbed his teacher's ability to render the figure in a classical mode. But when he discovered the paintings in the Prado, particularly those of Velázquez, his own style began to develop, a style that would allow him to create not only the famous paintings of sports but also the deeply psychological paintings such as 'The Gross Clinic'.
McFeely describes Eakins' marriage in very sensitive and knowledgeable terms, and he also is able to explore Eakins' sexual confusion: it seems apparent to us today that he was homosexual in his friendships and in his obsession with the male nude, photographs of nude boys and students and men, and his paintings such as the Swimming canvas that is one of his finest achievements. But that term was not even created during Eakins' time and it is a well established fact that male-male relationships that explored sexuality were far more common in the first half of the 19th century than in later times. The pleasure of this book is how non-judgmental McFeely is and his purpose is simply to inform the reader of the various possibilities in how to look at the works of Thomas Eakins with a richer mental picture of who the man was. He dwells less on the famous squabbles with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and offers us a more personal insight into the artist who continues to grow in stature with the passing years. One of the most informative aspects of this biography is how McFeely describes Eakins' portraits as windows into the artist's psyche: this part of the book is particularly well written.
Grady Harp
For all of the information that is available about the life and times and legacy of Thomas Eakins (1844 - 1916), considered by many to be the first truly great American painter, each author who approaches the enigmatic artist takes a different stance. For William S. McFeely, an authoritative writer, the purpose of the direction of this book lies in the title - this is a portrait of the life of Eakins, and as such is more concerned with the intellectual, emotional, sexual, and psychological aspects of Eakins that informed his paintings. For some it will work, for others it will seem a bit too conversational and almost gossipy.
Thomas Eakins was greatly influenced/controlled by his fellow sports' lover father who at least had the good sense to encourage the artistic aspect of his son's abilities. Eakins, according to McFeely, had a dark inner life, an almost manic-depressive nature, and it is this psychological conflict that perhaps allowed him to paint some of the most probing portraits of his time. But Eakins was also a man who hungered after experience that would help him develop as an artist. He traveled to Europe and spent a good amount of time training with the master Jean-Léon Gérôme at the École des beaux-arts in Paris and absorbed his teacher's ability to render the figure in a classical mode. But when he discovered the paintings in the Prado, particularly those of Velázquez, his own style began to develop, a style that would allow him to create not only the famous paintings of sports but also the deeply psychological paintings such as 'The Gross Clinic'.
McFeely describes Eakins' marriage in very sensitive and knowledgeable terms, and he also is able to explore Eakins' sexual confusion: it seems apparent to us today that he was homosexual in his friendships and in his obsession with the male nude, photographs of nude boys and students and men, and his paintings such as the Swimming canvas that is one of his finest achievements. But that term was not even created during Eakins' time and it is a well established fact that male-male relationships that explored sexuality were far more common in the first half of the 19th century than in later times. The pleasure of this book is how non-judgmental McFeely is and his purpose is simply to inform the reader of the various possibilities in how to look at the works of Thomas Eakins with a richer mental picture of who the man was. He dwells less on the famous squabbles with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and offers us a more personal insight into the artist who continues to grow in stature with the passing years. One of the most informative aspects of this biography is how McFeely describes Eakins' portraits as windows into the artist's psyche: this part of the book is particularly well written.
Grady Harp
March 1, 2015
Again an overrated book. Pulitzer Prize winner McFeely trips all over himself in this biography of the realist painter. The facts are there but often embellished and his interpretations of those facts are highly questionable.
November 27, 2020
Wow! I had no idea that Thomas Eakins was such an odd man. I have seen many of Eakins works over the years in various museums, including the great number held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art which his wife donated after his death in 1916. He was not only an accomplished artist, progressive in many ways with his works of human bodies, but he was also a photographer known for his experimental use of images.
McFeely explores many of Eakins works in great detail, and includes black and white and some colour photographs of a handful. One, which McFeely discusses in depth is Portrait of Dr. Samuel Gross (1875) an iconic painting of Eakins, important for its documentation of medicine but also for its stark and repulsive realism. Also known as the Gross Clinic, the painting draws the viewer into an operating room with an image of teacher and famous surgeon Dr. Samuel Gross demonstrating a surgical prodecure on a thigh of a patient. It’s gory. There’s blood on the hands of the surgeon, Dr. Gross, there’s a recoiling woman to his right, and in the background is Eakins himself taking notes. The painting was shocking in its day, and to a jury whom Eakins submitted it to for exhibition in the Centennial Exposition in 1876 in Pennsylvania. The painting was rejected to the art fair portion of the exhibition, but instead was displayed in the corner of an exhibit of a Civil War army field hospital (73). At the time the painting was mistaken for a medical story, as an illustrator would make, rather than a powerful work of art. It has since become an iconic painting that is revered by art scholars. It is exhibited today at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The book left me wanting more. I wanted more in-depth details of Eakins personal life, about his interactions with his wife, and his teaching methods when he was an art teacher at the Pennsylvania Art Academy. McFeely suggested Eakins may have been a bully—that he had unconventional methods of teaching which garnered him popular with some students but abhorred by others. This has nothing to do with his art obviously, but Eakins appears an interesting personality who McFeely explores, but not in a satisfying way.
For the most part the book is an interesting and fair read about Thomas Eakins’ eclectic life and several of his most important works and contributions as a an American realist painter.
McFeely explores many of Eakins works in great detail, and includes black and white and some colour photographs of a handful. One, which McFeely discusses in depth is Portrait of Dr. Samuel Gross (1875) an iconic painting of Eakins, important for its documentation of medicine but also for its stark and repulsive realism. Also known as the Gross Clinic, the painting draws the viewer into an operating room with an image of teacher and famous surgeon Dr. Samuel Gross demonstrating a surgical prodecure on a thigh of a patient. It’s gory. There’s blood on the hands of the surgeon, Dr. Gross, there’s a recoiling woman to his right, and in the background is Eakins himself taking notes. The painting was shocking in its day, and to a jury whom Eakins submitted it to for exhibition in the Centennial Exposition in 1876 in Pennsylvania. The painting was rejected to the art fair portion of the exhibition, but instead was displayed in the corner of an exhibit of a Civil War army field hospital (73). At the time the painting was mistaken for a medical story, as an illustrator would make, rather than a powerful work of art. It has since become an iconic painting that is revered by art scholars. It is exhibited today at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The book left me wanting more. I wanted more in-depth details of Eakins personal life, about his interactions with his wife, and his teaching methods when he was an art teacher at the Pennsylvania Art Academy. McFeely suggested Eakins may have been a bully—that he had unconventional methods of teaching which garnered him popular with some students but abhorred by others. This has nothing to do with his art obviously, but Eakins appears an interesting personality who McFeely explores, but not in a satisfying way.
For the most part the book is an interesting and fair read about Thomas Eakins’ eclectic life and several of his most important works and contributions as a an American realist painter.
December 8, 2009
I picked this book up because I really like Eakins and I really like rowing. I'm pretty disappointed so far because there is so little to go on. McFeely starts with two "facts" - Eakins' homosexuality and his depression - and constructs his story with very little backup. Almost nothing from Eakins himself and little more from his family. About all he has to go on are Eakins' paintings and his chronology.
Greenblatt did a great job on the life of Shakespeare (Will in the World) using even less than what is available on Eakins. But he told us a great deal more about Elizibethan England in order to do it. McFeely tells us something about Philadelphia, but it is hard to understand how much social stigma attached to being a nearly open homosexual in the society.
I just finished Four Women, a fictionalized account of Frank Lloyd Wright's romantic life. It seems to me that this would have been the better format for a history of Eakins' life, given the paucity of solid information on him. Told either through the voice of his wife Sue or himself, it could be very entertaining.
I do not share McFeely's rapture over "Swimming". I look at it as a grouping of isolated nudes, not as a group of men swimming. He reads a lot more into it than I do. However, I would like to see it again.
He is such a great painter. I went to an exhibit at the Hirschorn Museum in DC in the late 70s, where they had a lot of his early stuff. If I remember correctly, he had a sailboat in the background of something he drew at the age of seven. From little acorns....
I've finished it since I wrote the above comments. I liked his discussion of the later paintings and the people who posed for him.
I was really disappointed in the book as a biography. It is pretty clear that Eakins did not want to be known and his contemporaries obliged. We'll have to make do with how he represented himself in the paintings, although I would be happy to be entertained with a fictionalized account.
Greenblatt did a great job on the life of Shakespeare (Will in the World) using even less than what is available on Eakins. But he told us a great deal more about Elizibethan England in order to do it. McFeely tells us something about Philadelphia, but it is hard to understand how much social stigma attached to being a nearly open homosexual in the society.
I just finished Four Women, a fictionalized account of Frank Lloyd Wright's romantic life. It seems to me that this would have been the better format for a history of Eakins' life, given the paucity of solid information on him. Told either through the voice of his wife Sue or himself, it could be very entertaining.
I do not share McFeely's rapture over "Swimming". I look at it as a grouping of isolated nudes, not as a group of men swimming. He reads a lot more into it than I do. However, I would like to see it again.
He is such a great painter. I went to an exhibit at the Hirschorn Museum in DC in the late 70s, where they had a lot of his early stuff. If I remember correctly, he had a sailboat in the background of something he drew at the age of seven. From little acorns....
I've finished it since I wrote the above comments. I liked his discussion of the later paintings and the people who posed for him.
I was really disappointed in the book as a biography. It is pretty clear that Eakins did not want to be known and his contemporaries obliged. We'll have to make do with how he represented himself in the paintings, although I would be happy to be entertained with a fictionalized account.
July 14, 2013
Last year, after reading the lengthy "The Revenge of Thomas Eakins", I felt like I had a thorough background in the life of this important American artist. McFeely's slim volume (almost an illustrated essay), fully challenges the longer work.
McFeely sees the pivotal issue in Eakins' life as his dismissal/resignation from the PA Academy. From this flows the answer to many questions about the lack of contemporary appreciation for his work and the subsequent lack of an "Eakins school" of painting. The Academy separation appears to be over something of Eakins' sexuality.. but what was it?
Kirkpatrick deals with Eakins' sexuality through the allegations of impropriety with a female student, his sister and his niece and his insistence on the nude. His resignation/dismissal from the PA Academy is cast as relating to using nudes and/or the allegations. His relationship with his wife is cast as quiet and within the realm of traditional.
McFeely challenges the Kirkpatrick work by putting homosexuality and a tendency to depression as being constant and underlying forces. The first glimmer of homosexuality is in Emily Sartain's letters and later the group of 5 (including a brother in law) who seal his fate at the Academy. Knowing of his homosexuality, the dramatic removal of the cloth from the model during a women's drawing class carries a whole different connotation. Mcfeely, in his short book, devotes a more space to the Whitman friendship than the longer work.
Following this, I returned to the reviews provided by Amazon. The Booklist review under the Kirkpatrick work is highly instructive. Now there is a third book to explore, "Eakins Revealed" by Adams.
As a biographer of Grant, McFeely is able to bring the feeling of the era to the text. The book has a number of color plates, and many in b & w that illustrate most of the paintings mentioned.
McFeely sees the pivotal issue in Eakins' life as his dismissal/resignation from the PA Academy. From this flows the answer to many questions about the lack of contemporary appreciation for his work and the subsequent lack of an "Eakins school" of painting. The Academy separation appears to be over something of Eakins' sexuality.. but what was it?
Kirkpatrick deals with Eakins' sexuality through the allegations of impropriety with a female student, his sister and his niece and his insistence on the nude. His resignation/dismissal from the PA Academy is cast as relating to using nudes and/or the allegations. His relationship with his wife is cast as quiet and within the realm of traditional.
McFeely challenges the Kirkpatrick work by putting homosexuality and a tendency to depression as being constant and underlying forces. The first glimmer of homosexuality is in Emily Sartain's letters and later the group of 5 (including a brother in law) who seal his fate at the Academy. Knowing of his homosexuality, the dramatic removal of the cloth from the model during a women's drawing class carries a whole different connotation. Mcfeely, in his short book, devotes a more space to the Whitman friendship than the longer work.
Following this, I returned to the reviews provided by Amazon. The Booklist review under the Kirkpatrick work is highly instructive. Now there is a third book to explore, "Eakins Revealed" by Adams.
As a biographer of Grant, McFeely is able to bring the feeling of the era to the text. The book has a number of color plates, and many in b & w that illustrate most of the paintings mentioned.
October 14, 2011
Interesting bio of the Philadelphia painter who lived from 1844 to 1916. He 'came of age' during the Civil War, studied in Europe, taught painting, happily married to an artist -- BUT conflicted over his sexual orientation. Sigh! He should have just painted happily in his studio with his wife.
June 17, 2007
Did you know Philadelphi'a most famous painter was gay? And so was his wife? Worth exploring...
November 26, 2008
Biography of Thomas Eakins
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews