Photographs of 19th century artists, including Thomas Sully, Rembrandt Peale, Frederick de Bourg Richards, Edward Moran, John Moran, William Trost Richards, Edmund Darch Lewis, George Bacon Wood, Isaac Williams, James Reid Lambdin, Samuel Bell Waugh, Peter Frederick Rothermel, the Sartain family, the Sartain home, John Sartain, Samuel Sartain, William Sartain, Emily Sartain, Thomas Buchanan Read, Thomas Eakins's motion studies, the Pennsylvania State Capitol, group portraits of women from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Artists Fund Society, James S. Earle and Son, and the Fine Art Gallery at the Great Sanitary Fair.
Biographical / Historical:
Archive repository; Philadelphia, Pa.
Provenance:
Microfilmed in 1986 as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project. Photographs were compiled from various collections of the Print Dept. of the Library Company of Philadelphia.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Topic:
Photograph collections -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Photographs Search this
Photography -- Early works to 1900 -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Photographs Search this
Artists -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Photographs Search this
The letters of Thomas Eakins measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1866 to 1934. They primarily document the period between 1866 and 1869 that he spent studying art in Paris, as well as his career as a portrait artist.
Scope and Content Note:
The letters of Thomas Eakins measure 0.2 linear feet and date from 1866 to 1934. They primarily document the period between 1866 and 1869 that he spent studying art in Paris, as well as his career as a portrait artist.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection, items are categorized into one series consisting of five folders. Items are arranged chronologically.
Biographical Note:
Realist painter Thomas Eakins was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1844. He was encouraged by his parents to develop his talent in art, and in 1862 he entered the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Also during this period Eakins developed an interest in anatomy, revealed later in the realistically detailed Gross Clinic, painted in 1875. In 1866 he moved to Paris, where he studied painting with Jean-Léon Gérôme at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts for three years, and briefly with sculptor Augustin-Alexandre Dumont and painter Léon Bonnat. He toured Spain for six months in 1870 and then returned to Philadelphia to become a portrait artist. Eakins began teaching at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and became its director of instruction in 1882. During this period he also met fellow artist Susan MacDowell and they were married in 1884. While at the Academy, he promoted a curriculum based on the study of the human figure, and began using photography as a method of study for his paintings. A dispute over the use of nude models forced Eakins to resign from the Academy in 1886, but he continued painting and exhibiting until his death in 1916.
Provenance:
Letters from Eakins to his family were donated by Dr. Caroline Crowell, daughter of Frances Eakins Crowell, and niece of Thomas Eakins. Other letters were donated in 1962 and 1963 by Irving Levitt and Lawrence Fleischman. Both accessions were microfilmed upon receipt.
Restrictions:
The bulk of the collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website. Use of material not digitized requires an appointment.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Portrait painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Topic:
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
