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In 19th century America, most people did not have much time to study styles and artistic expressions. Art, that was something that was debated in the elite circles of the East Coast by gentlemen with fine cigars. It was the art movement of realism that tried to build a bridge between these worlds. Driven by the desire to create vivid and objective art, a number of painters now devoted themselves to depicting everyday scenes, most notably Thomas Eakins (1844-1916), who is now considered one of the most important American painters of the period.
Thomas Eakins' family had Irish roots, but unlike many other families of that origin the Eakins were quite well off and Thomas, the eldest son, enjoyed a good school education which gave him insights into many subjects. His thirst for knowledge became the basis for the representational, realistic art with which Thomas Eakins would later make a name for himself. Inspired by old masters such as Rembrandt or Diego Velázquez, fired by his own experiences and conversations with his good friend Walt Whitman and trained through study periods at famous art academies such as the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Eakins knew how to give art new forms of expression. His works include scenes of people in a rowing boat or athletes in training. These images are shots of moments and moments taken from a continuous sequence of moments.
In Eakins' work there are also scenes from his family life. In general you can recognize an autobiographical note in many of his pictures. For example, the artist appears as a rower in the background of his work "Max Schmitt in One" or as an attentive observer of an operation in "The Agnew Clinic". The motif of the clinical operation reappears later in "Die Klinik Gross". These two pictures are representative of the increasing tendency towards provocation in Eakins' works. Despite this, his works still impress with their sharp realism, which often lends the persons depicted a deep-seated expressiveness. For Thomas Eakins, commercial success during his lifetime was largely absent. Towards the end of his career, he also devoted himself increasingly to photography, but he is still primarily known and appreciated as a gifted painter of intense depictions of everyday life.
In 19th century America, most people did not have much time to study styles and artistic expressions. Art, that was something that was debated in the elite circles of the East Coast by gentlemen with fine cigars. It was the art movement of realism that tried to build a bridge between these worlds. Driven by the desire to create vivid and objective art, a number of painters now devoted themselves to depicting everyday scenes, most notably Thomas Eakins (1844-1916), who is now considered one of the most important American painters of the period.
Thomas Eakins' family had Irish roots, but unlike many other families of that origin the Eakins were quite well off and Thomas, the eldest son, enjoyed a good school education which gave him insights into many subjects. His thirst for knowledge became the basis for the representational, realistic art with which Thomas Eakins would later make a name for himself. Inspired by old masters such as Rembrandt or Diego Velázquez, fired by his own experiences and conversations with his good friend Walt Whitman and trained through study periods at famous art academies such as the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Eakins knew how to give art new forms of expression. His works include scenes of people in a rowing boat or athletes in training. These images are shots of moments and moments taken from a continuous sequence of moments.
In Eakins' work there are also scenes from his family life. In general you can recognize an autobiographical note in many of his pictures. For example, the artist appears as a rower in the background of his work "Max Schmitt in One" or as an attentive observer of an operation in "The Agnew Clinic". The motif of the clinical operation reappears later in "Die Klinik Gross". These two pictures are representative of the increasing tendency towards provocation in Eakins' works. Despite this, his works still impress with their sharp realism, which often lends the persons depicted a deep-seated expressiveness. For Thomas Eakins, commercial success during his lifetime was largely absent. Towards the end of his career, he also devoted himself increasingly to photography, but he is still primarily known and appreciated as a gifted painter of intense depictions of everyday life.