Study for "The Dancing Lesson": The Banjo Player

probably 1877

Thomas Eakins

Artist, American, 1844 - 1916

A young, gangly, brown-skinned boy sits on a green chair and leans over the banjo he plays in this loosely painted, vertical composition. His body faces our right in profile, and his head leans to his left and away from us. Light comes from our left to highlight his ear and the side of his chin, but throws his profile into shadow against the lighter background. The boy has short black hair and wears a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, black pants, and black shoes. The floor is loosely painted with streaks of earth brown, taupe, and dark moss green. The wall behind the boy is painted with visible strokes of parchment brown, peachy tan, pearl white, and fog gray. The space to our left of the boy is dark brown, and an outline of a standing person is sketched in the top left corner. A grid is overlaid across the boy’s body and the chair.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas on cardboard

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    overall: 49.5 x 37.9 cm (19 1/2 x 14 15/16 in.)
    framed: 57.9 x 45.7 x 3.5 cm (22 13/16 x 18 x 1 3/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1985.64.16

More About this Artwork

Video:  Minstrelsy “Uncorked”: Thomas Eakins’ Empathetic Realism

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

George Frank Stephens [1859-1935], the artist's brother-in-law;[1] Roger Stephens, the artist's nephew, by 20 December 1944;[2] (E. & A. Milch, Inc., New York); (M. Knoedler & Co., New York), 1960; sold 10 January 1961 to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia; gift 1985 to NGA.
[1] The names of Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Eddy (Plainfield, New Jersey) have appeared at this point in the provenance, and Charles Eddy (Westfield, New Jersey) is given as the owner in Lloyd Goodrich, "Thomas Eakins, Realist," Pennsylvania Museum Bulletin 25 (March 1930): 172, no. 125, appearing between the first owner, Eakins' brother-in-law George Frank Stephens, and the second, Eakins' nephew Roger Stephens. But it makes no sense to have the painting's descent in the Stephens family interrupted, particularly as Roger Stephens (letter of 20 December 1944 from Roger Stephens to the Metropolitan Museum of Art [MMA archives]) reported that he inherited it from a relative. Neither of the Eddys was related to the Stephenses; thus it seems tolerably clear that some confusion has crept into the provenance.
[2] Goodrich's manuscript catalogue (Philadelphia Museum of Art) also records the letter of 20 December 1944 from Roger Stephens to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA archives): "I have an oil painting by my uncle, the late Thomas Eakins, which has recently come to me through the death of another relative. The size is about 18 x 20, the subject: a young Negro sitting on a stool, playing a banjo."

Associated Names

Exhibition History

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. 30.

1968

  • American Art from Alumni Collections, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, 1968, no. 97, repro.

1986

  • Gifts to the Nation: Selected Acquisitions from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1986, unnumbered checklist

1991

  • Thomas Eakins Rediscovered, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1991-1992, no cat.

2003

  • The Birth of the Banjo, Katonah Museum of Art, New York, 2003-2004, unnumbered catalogue.

2005

  • Picturing the Banjo, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park; The Boston Athenaeum, 2005-2006, unnumbered catalogue, fig. 99.

2016

  • The Art of American Dance, Detroit Institute of Arts; Denver Art Museum; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, 2016-2017, no. 14, repro.

Bibliography

1933

  • Goodrich, Lloyd. Thomas Eakins: His Life and Work. New York, 1933: 172, no. 125.

1971

  • Hoopes, Donelson F. Eakins Watercolors. New York, 1971: 44, repro. 46.

1982

  • Goodrich, Lloyd. Thomas Eakins. 2 vols. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982: 1:repro. 110 (fig.47).

1988

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 130, repro.

1989

  • Honour, Hugh. The Image of the Black in Western Art. 4 vols. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1989: 4:189.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 166, 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: 167-172, color repro.

2021

  • Donovan, Patricia A. "Permanence in This Changing World: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Endowment Challenge Grant." Art for the Nation no. 64 (Fall 2021): 8, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20188835

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