Thomas Eakins letters
name: label: Creator
content: Eakins, Thomas, 1844-1916
label: Names
content: Couture, Thomas, 1815-1879
label: Names
content: Crowell, Frances Eakins, b. 1848
label: Names
content: Crowell, William J.
label: Names
content: Fussell, Charles Lewis, 1840-1909
label: Names
content: Gérôme, Jean Léon, 1824-1904
label: Names
content: Hallowell, William R.
label: Names
content: Richards, Frederick de Bourg, 1822-1903
label: Names
content: Sartain, William, 1843-1924
label: Names
content: Wallace, J. Laurie (John Laurie)
place: label: Place
content: Paris (France) -- description and travel
topic: label: Occupation
content: Portrait painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
label: Topic
content: Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
label: Topic
content: Painting, American
label: Topic
content: Portrait painting, American
label: Topic
content: Portrait painting -- 19th century -- United States
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: 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.
creator: label: Creator
content: Eakins, Thomas, 1844-1916
setName: label: See more items in
content: Thomas Eakins letters
abstract: label: Summary
content: 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.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: 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.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.2 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1866-1934
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.eakithom
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Due to the small size of this collection, items are categorized into one series consisting of five folders. Items are arranged chronologically.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection received some preliminary processing and was microfilmed upon receipt on reels 640 and 2803. The collection was fully re-processed, arranged and described by Erin Corley in 2005 and the bulk of it was scanned, with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Alternative Forms Available
content: The letters of Thomas Eakins were digitized in 2006 by the Archives of American Art. The letters have been scanned in their entirety, and total 143 images.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: 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.