Título: Thomas Eakins
Seção: Early career
Background: Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (July 25, 1844 - June 25, 1916) was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important artists in American art history. For the length of his professional career, from the early 1870s until his health began to fail some 40 years later, Eakins worked exactingly from life, choosing as his subject the people of his hometown of Philadelphia. He painted several hundred portraits, usually of friends, family members, or prominent people in the arts, sciences, medicine, and clergy.

Conteúdo: Eakins' first works upon his return from Europe included a large group of rowing scenes, eleven oils and watercolors in all, of which the first and most famous is Max Schmitt in a Single Scull (1871; also known as The Champion Single Sculling). Both his subject and his technique drew attention. His selection of a contemporary sport was "a shock to the artistic conventionalities of the city". Eakins placed himself in the painting, in a scull behind Schmitt, his name inscribed on the boat.  Typically, the work entailed critical observation of the painting's subject, as well as preparatory drawings of the figure and perspective plans of the scull in the water. Its preparation and composition indicates the importance of Eakins' academic training in Paris. It was a completely original conception, true to Eakins' firsthand experience, and an almost startlingly successful image for the artist, who had struggled with his first outdoor composition less than a year before. His first known sale was the watercolor The Sculler (1874). Most critics judged the rowing pictures successful and auspicious, but after the initial flourish, Eakins never revisited the subject of rowing and went on to other sports themes.  At the same time that he made these initial ventures into outdoor themes, Eakins produced a series of domestic Victorian interiors, often with his father, his sisters or friends as the subjects. Home Scene (1871), Elizabeth at the Piano (1875), The Chess Players (1876), and Elizab

user: When did Thomas Eakin's early career start?

assistant: 1871;

user: What kind of works did Eakins produce in his early career?

assistant: Eakins' first works upon his return from Europe included a large group of rowing scenes, eleven oils and watercolors in all,

user: What was his most popular early career work?

assistant: most famous is Max Schmitt in a Single Scull (1871; also known as The Champion Single Sculling).

user: What is a Single Scull?

assistant: Eakins placed himself in the painting, in a scull behind Schmitt, his name inscribed on the boat.

user: Why was this a popular painting?

assistant: Both his subject and his technique drew attention. His selection of a contemporary sport was "a shock to the artistic conventionalities of the city".

user: What other works did he create in his early career?

assistant: At the same time that he made these initial ventures into outdoor themes, Eakins produced a series of domestic Victorian interiors,

user: What were some of the titles of this series?

assistant: Home Scene (1871), Elizabeth at the Piano (1875), The Chess Players (1876), and Elizabeth Crowell and her Dog (1874),

user: What did the critics think of his early works?

assistant: Most critics judged the rowing pictures successful and auspicious, but after the initial flourish, Eakins never revisited the subject of rowing and went on to other sports themes.

user: Was Eakins married?

assistant: In 1874 Eakins and Crowell became engaged; they were still engaged five years later, when Crowell died of meningitis in 1879.