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Provenance

The artist [1844-1916]; by inheritance 1916 to his wife, Susan Macdowell Eakins [Mrs. Thomas Eakins, 1851-1938], Philadelphia, until at least 1922/1923; purchased 1928 by Reginald Marsh, New York;[1] sold 30 March 1943 through (William Macbeth, New York) to Stephen C. Clark [1882-1960], New York;[2] gift 1946 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1917
Loan Exhibition of the Works of Thomas Eakins, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1917, no. 51.
1917
Memorial Exhibition of the Work of the Late Thomas Eakins, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1917, no. 138.
1930
Sixth Loan Exhibition: Homer, Ryder, Eakins, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1930, no. 113.
1945
Thomas Eakins Centennial Exhibition, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1945, no. 106.
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. 91.
1970
Portraits by Thomas Eakins, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook, Pennsylvania, 1970, no cat. (organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art).
1970
Thomas Eakins Retrospective Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1970, no. 95, repro.
1993
Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) and the Heart of American Life, National Portrait Gallery, London, 1993-1994, no. 48, repro.

Technical Summary

The painting is on a medium-weight, plain-weave fabric that was lined sometime between 1930 and 1946. There is cusping only along the right edge, but the painting appears to be its original size. The lining fabric is inscribed "HANC EFFIGIEM ILLMI AC REVMI DIOMEDI FALCONIO ARCHLARISSENSIS ET DELEGATI APOSTOLICI IN STATIBUS FOEDERATIS AMERICAE SEPTEMTRIONALIS PINXIT THOMAS EAKINS WASHINGTONII MDCCCCV / EAKINS," which presumably was copied from the back of the original fabric. The paint ranges in consistency from low impasto to fluid glaze. A dark brown transparent imprimatura, although whether overall or only in selected areas is unclear, was applied over a white ground of medium thickness. Opaque lighter tones were scumbled over the dark underlayer. A glossy, probably pigmented layer that seems original surrounds the face and extends down to the collar. The painting was treated in 1981; discolored varnish was removed and the painting was restored.

Bibliography

1917
Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the Late Thomas Eakins. Philadelphia, 1917: repro., unpaginated.
1930
Goodrich, Lloyd. "Thomas Eakins, Realist." Pennsylvania Museum Bulletin 25 (March 1930): 31, no. 283.
1933
Goodrich, Lloyd. Thomas Eakins: His Life and Work. New York, 1933: 201, repro. 66.
1942
McKinney, Roland. Thomas Eakins. New York, 1942: 15.
1959
Porter, Fairfield. Thomas Eakins. New York, 1959: repro. 73.
1961
Thomas Eakins: A Retrospective Exhibition. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Art Institute of Chicago; Philadelhia Museum of Art. Washington, D.C., 1961: 124, repro. 91.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 327, repro.
1967
Schendler, Sylvan. Eakins. Boston, 1967: 208, repro. 104.
1970
American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 52, repro., as Monsignor Diomede Falconio.
1974
Hendricks, Gordon. The Life and Work of Thomas Eakins. New York, 1974: 255, repro. 275.
1975
McBride, Henry. The Flow of Art. New York, 1975: 138-139.
1979
Gerdts, William H. "Thomas Eakins and the Episcopal Portrait: Archbishop William Henry Elder." Arts Magazine 53 (May 1979): 154-155, repro. 155.
1980
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 149, repro.
1980
Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 16, no. 39, color repro.
1981
Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 169, repro. 170.
1982
Goodrich, Lloyd. Thomas Eakins. 2 vols. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982: 2:188, 191, repro. 237.
1983
Johns, Elizabeth. Thomas Eakins: The Heroism of Modern Life. Princeton, 1983: 150, fig. 109.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 553, no. 837, color repro.
1988
Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 134, no. 44, color repro.
1992
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 167, repro.
1992
Homer, William Innes. Thomas Eakins: His Life and Art. New York, 1992: 226-227, color repro. 226.
1993
Wilmerding, John, et al. Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) and the Heart of American Life. Exh. cat. National Portrait Gallery, London, 1993: 34, 171, 172-175, 177, repro. 172, 175.
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: 178-182, color repro.
2006
The Clark Brothers Collect: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings. Exh. cat. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Williamstown and New Haven, 2006: 175, 177, 180, 315, 326 no. 116.

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