The Biglin Brothers Racing
1872
Thomas Eakins
Artist, American, 1844 - 1916
Rowing was one of America’s most popular sports after the Civil War. A five-mile race held on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia in May 1872 attracted thousands of spectators, as seen in the background. Professional oarsmen John and Bernard (Barney) Biglin from New York bested their Pittsburgh competitors by one minute and were proclaimed world champions.
An avid rower himself, Thomas Eakins directs our attention to details that enhance the painting’s narrative. Barney Biglin glances at the stern of the opposing racing shell to gauge his position, while his brother John begins his next stroke. Diagonal clouds and treetops echo their leaning torsos. The red boats and distant shoreline divide the space into horizontal bands.
West Building Main Floor, Gallery M68
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 61.2 x 91.6 cm (24 1/8 x 36 1/16 in.)
framed: 74.9 x 105.7 x 5.4 cm (29 1/2 x 41 5/8 x 2 1/8 in.) -
Accession Number
1953.7.1
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
The artist [1844-1916]; by inheritance to his wife, Susan Macdowell Eakins [Mrs. Thomas Eakins, 1851-1938], Philadelphia; sold 1933 through (E. & A. Milch, Inc., New York) to the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; consigned 18 February 1950 to (M. Knoedler & Co., New York); sold 19 April 1950 to Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, New York; bequest 1953 to NGA.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1917
Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the Late Thomas Eakins, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1917-1918, no. 1, as Biglen Brothers Ready to Start Race.
1930
Thomas Eakins, Babcock Art Galleries, New York, 1930-1931, no. 3, repro., as Ready to Start the Race (The Biglen Brothers).
1936
An Exhibition of American Genre Paintings, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1936, no. 31, as The Biglen Brothers Ready to Start the Race.
1941
Painting Today and Yesterday in the United States, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1941, no. 44, as Biglen Brothers Ready to Start.
1945
Thomas Eakins Centennial Exhibition, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1945, no. 42, as The Biglen Brothers Ready to Start the Race.
1948
Sport in Art, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1948, no. 10, as The Biglen Brothers Racing.
1961
Thomas Eakins: A Retrospective Exhibition, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Art Institute of Chicago; Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1961-1962, no. 12, repro.
1968
An Exhibition Honoring the XIX Olympiad, Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona, 1968, no. 29, repro.
1970
Thomas Eakins Retrospective Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1970, no. 14.
1976
American Marine Painting, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; The Mariners Museum, Newport News, 1976, no. 40, repro.
1984
The Waters of America: 19th Century American Paintings of Rivers, Streams, Lakes, and Waterfalls, New Orleans Museum of Art, 1984, no. 46, repro.
1996
Thomas Eakins: The Rowing Pictures, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven; Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996-1997, unnumbered catalogue, fig. 22, fig. 23 (detail).
2010
Manly Pursuits: The Sporting Images of Thomas Eakins, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 2010, no catalogue.
Bibliography
1930
Goodrich, Lloyd. "Thomas Eakins, Realist." Pennsylvania Museum Bulletin 25 (March 1930): 18, no. 19.
Art News 29 (20 December 1930): repro. 68.
1933
Goodrich, Lloyd. Thomas Eakins: His Life and Work. New York, 1933: no. 61, 165.
1956
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1956: 56, repro.
1959
Bouton, Margaret. American Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1959 (Booklet Number One in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 7, 28, color repro.
1962
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 146, color repro.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 289, repro.
1966
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:484, color repro.
1967
Schendler, Sylvan. Eakins. Boston, 1967: 37, repro. 38.
1968
Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. (Great Museums of the World.) New York, 1968: 160, color repro.
1970
American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 52, repro.
1973
Williams, Hermann Warner. Mirror to the American Past: A Survey of American Genre Painting, 1750-1900. Greenwich, Connecticut, 1973: 224.
1974
Hendricks, Gordon. The Life and Work of Thomas Eakins. New York, 1974: 71, 325, fig. 58.
1977
Rosenzweig, Phyllis D. The Thomas Eakins Collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Washington, D.C., 1977: repro. 52.
1980
Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 16, 144, no. 38, color repro.
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 148, repro.
1981
Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 152, repro.
1982
Goodrich, Lloyd. Thomas Eakins. 2 vols. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982: 1:97, 117, color fig. 42.
Carmean, E.A., Jr., et al. Bellows: The Boxing Pictures. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1982: 18-19, repro. 18.
1983
Johns, Elizabeth. Thomas Eakins: The Heroism of Modern Life. Princeton, 1983: 42, note 51, fig. 29.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 550, no. 836, color repro.
1988
Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 132, no. 43, color repro.
1992
Homer, William Innes. Thomas Eakins: His Life and Art. New York, 1992: 129, color repro. 132.
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 165, repro.
1996
Kelly, Franklin, with Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Deborah Chotner, and John Davis. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 157-162, color repro.
1997
Gebhardt, Volker. Kunstgeschichte Malerei, 1997, no.177, repro.
1998
Gilbert, Rita. Living with Art. 5th ed. New York, 1998: fig. 92.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 316-317, no. 256, color repro.
2025
" American and British Paintings for the Nation: An Interview with Franklyn Kelly." Art for the Nation 70 (Summer 2025):5, fig. 3.
Wikidata ID
Q20188744