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Thomas Eakins

Louis Husson, 1899

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 61 x 50.9 cm (24 x 20 1/16 in.)

framed: 76.2 x 66 x 6.7 cm (30 x 26 x 2 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Katharine Husson Horstick

Accession Number

1957.2.1

Artists / Makers

Thomas Eakins (artist) American, 1844 - 1916

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Inscription

upper right: To his friend / Louis Husson / Thomas Eakins / 1899.; on reverse: To Katy Husson from her friend Thomas Eakins.

Provenance

The sitter [1844-1923], Philadelphia, from 1899. His daughter, Katharine Husson Horstick [Mrs. Simon M. Horstick, d. 1956], Hatboro, Pennsylvania, by 1917; bequest 1957 to NGA.

Associated Names

Horstick, Simon M., Mrs.
Husson, Louis

Exhibition History

1911: Fifteenth Annual Exhibition, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1911, no. 74.

1917: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the Late Thomas Eakins, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1917, no. 104, as Portrait: Louis Husson.

1989: Extended loan for use by Ambassador Walter Curley, U.S. Embassy residence, Paris, France, 1989-1992.

Technical Summary

The support is a 1 x 2 twill weave fabric that is unlined and appears to be attached to its original four-member, mortise-and-tenon stretcher.[1] Over the white ground, which covers all but the right tacking margin, the paint was thinly and fluidly applied. Some of the uppermost glazes in the coat are abraded. There is scattered inpainting in the tie, beard, forehead, and jacket. In 1957 an additional layer of varnish was applied. The varnish has become slightly discolored.

[1] A paper label affixed to the cardboard backing reads: "cleaned and revarnished with Mastic by Charles Bregler Phila. Pa June 1938" (in NGA curatorial files).

Bibliography

1930: Goodrich, Lloyd. "Thomas Eakins, Realist." Pennsylvania Museum Bulletin 25 (March 1930): 27, no. 189.

1933: Goodrich, Lloyd. Thomas Eakins: His Life and Work. New York, 1933: 190.

1967: Schendler, Sylvan. Eakins. Boston, 1967: repro. 256.

1970: American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 52, repro.

1974: Hendricks, Gordon. The Life and Work of Thomas Eakins. New York, 1974: 170, repro. 171.

1980: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 150, repro.

1980: Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 116, repro.

1981: Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 169, repro. 171.

1982: Goodrich, Lloyd. Thomas Eakins. 2 vols. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982: 2:215, repro. 58.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 553, no. 838, color repro.

1988: Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 134, repro.

1989: American Paintings from the Manoogian Collection. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Detroit Institute of Arts. Washington, D.C., 1989: repro. 126.

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: 173-176, color repro.