The Revenge of Thomas Eakins

by Sidney D. Kirkpatrick

• ISBN13: 9780300108552
• ISBN10: 0300108559
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2006-03-28
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Thomas Eakins was misunderstood in life, his brilliant work earned little acclaim, and hidden demons tortured and drove him. Yet the portraits he painted more than a century ago captivate us today, and he is now widely acclaimed as the finest portrait painter our nation has ever produced. This book recounts the artist's life in fascinating detail, drawing on a treasure trove of Eakins family correspondence and papers that have only recently been discovered. Never before has Thomas Eakins's story been told with such drama, clarity, and accuracy. Sidney Kirkpatrick sets the painter's life and art in the wider context of the changing world he devoted himself to portraying, and he also addresses the artist's private lifethe contradictory impulses, obsessions, and possible psychological illness that fired his work. Kirkpatrick underscores Eakins's unflinching integrity as an artist and discloses how his profound appreciation of the beauty of the human form was both the source of his greatness and ultimately of his undoing. Nevertheless, the author observes, Eakins has had his "revenge," inspiring a new generation of realist painters and gaining the recognition that eluded him in life.

Author Biography

Sidney D. Kirkpatrick is a critically acclaimed author and award-winning documentary film producer. His most recent book is Edgar Cayce, An American Prophet.

Table of Contents

Introduction In Light and Shadow	1	(18)
Part I MASTER AND APPRENTICE
1 The Eakins Family of Philadelphia	19	(11)
2 Master Benjamin	30	(6)
3 The Art of the Penman	36	(10)
4 An Uncertain Future	46	(6)
5 The Medical Arts and the Fine Arts	52	(7)
6 The Pennsylvania Academy	59	(7)
7 A Dangerous Young Adonis	66	(9)
8 From Temple to Palace	75	(9)
9 Heads and Hands	84	(9)
10 Letters Home	93	(12)
11 Rough Around the Edges	105	(6)
12 The Artist and His Muse	111	(7)
13 Picture Making	118	(11)
Part II ARTIST AND EDUCATOR
14 The Road Less Traveled	129	(10)
15 Champion Oarsman	139	(10)
16 The Biglin Brothers Racing	149	(7)
17 Hikers and Hunters	156	(8)
18 Uncompromising Realism	164	(12)
19 A Good and Decent Girl	176	(8)
20 The Blood-Covered Scalpel	184	(7)
21 A Degradation of Art	191	(7)
22 Painting Heads	198	(8)
23 The Unflinching Eye	206	(9)
24 Talk of the Town	215	(7)
25 Nymph in the Fountain	222	(8)
26 The Open Door	230	(11)
27 A May Morning in the Park	241	(11)
28 Jerusalem in New Jersey	252	(8)
29 Tripod and Easel	260	(10)
3o Nudes and Prudes	270	(12)
31 The Lovely Young Men of Dove Lake	282	(15)
Part III EXPOSED AND EXPELLED
32 Philanthropists and Philistines	297	(8)
33 The Hanging Committee	305	(5)
34 Point of No Return	310	(7)
35 Demons and Demigods	317	(10)
36 The Family Skeleton	327	(9)
37 Black Care	336	(10)
38 The Bard of Camden	346	(10)
39 A League of His Own	356	(11)
40 Dressed and Undressed	367	(12)
41 Portraits by a Modern Master	379	(9)
42 Horrors of the Dissecting Table	388	(12)
43 Casting for Commissions	400	(13)
44 The Pied Piper of Philadelphia	413	(14)
Part IV FORGIVEN AND FORGOTTEN
45 Portrait of a Physicist	427	(9)
46 Down for the Count	436	(11)
47 Outlaw in an Undershirt	447	(11)
48 Pictured Lives	458	(11)
49 Pontiffs and Prelates	469	(10)
50 Return to Rush	479	(7)
51 Artist in Residence	486	(11)
Notes	497	(34)
Bibliography	531	(8)
Acknowledgments	539	(4)
Index	543