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'''Thomas Eakins''' (1844-1916) was a painter who concentrated in the subject of realism, and the first great painter in the period after the [[American Civil War]].  His masterpiece, ''The Gross Clinic'', had recently sold for a staggering $68,000,000, the highest price paid for an American portrait, despite being critically rejected by his contemporaries during the time it was created.

'''Thomas Eakins''' (1844-1916) was a painter who concentrated in the subject of realism, and the first great painter in the period after the [[American Civil War]].  His masterpiece, ''The Gross Clinic'', had recently sold for a staggering $68,000,000, the highest price paid for an American portrait, despite being critically rejected by his contemporaries during the time it was created.

==Early life==

==Early life==

Except for a period of study in Europe and a trip to the western United States, Eakins lived his entire life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Here he learned manual dexterity and precision from his father, a master of the art of writing and caligraphy.  He had a sound education, doing well in his studies, especially math and the sciences.  His interest in art led him to enroll in the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, where he developed his knowledge of the live model by attending medical lectures in anatomy at the nearby Jefferson Medical College, witnessing operations and dissections by Doctor Samuel Gross, one of the 19th century's brilliant American surgeons.

Except for a period of study in Europe and a trip to the western United States, Eakins lived his entire life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Here he learned manual dexterity and precision from his father, a master of the art of writing and caligraphy.  He had a sound education, doing well in his studies, especially math and the sciences.  His interest in art led him to enroll in the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, where he developed his knowledge of the live model by attending medical lectures in anatomy at the nearby Jefferson Medical College, witnessing operations and dissections by Doctor Samuel Gross, one of the 19th century's brilliant American surgeons.

==''The Gross Clinic''==

==''The Gross Clinic''==

[[Image:Gross Clinic.JPG|thumb|200px|right|Thomas Eakins' ''The Gross Clinic'' (1875)]]

[[Image:Gross Clinic.JPG|thumb|150px|right|Thomas Eakins' ''The Gross Clinic'' (1875)]]

In 1875 Eakins embarked on a painting intended for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and as his subject he returned to Jefferson Medical College where he sat and observed the teaching of Dr. Gross.  The result was a large painting, ''The Gross Clinic'', which showed Gross standing before his students in a moment of explanation, the bloody scalpel in his hand fresh from opening an insision for his assistants, while the patient's mother flings an arm before her face to shield herself from the scene, her emotions in sharp contrast to the patience displayed by Dr. Gross.

In 1875 Eakins embarked on a painting intended for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and as his subject he returned to Jefferson Medical College where he sat and observed the teaching of Dr. Gross.  The result was a large painting, ''The Gross Clinic'', which showed Gross standing before his students in a moment of explanation, the bloody scalpel in his hand fresh from opening an insision for his assistants, while the patient's mother flings an arm before her face to shield herself from the scene, her emotions in sharp contrast to the patience displayed by Dr. Gross.

==Later period==

==Later period==

[[Image:Artists wife and setter.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Thomas Eakins' ''Lady with her Setter Dog'', (1885).  This painting portrays Susan Macdowell, a pupil who became his wife in 1884.]]

[[Image:Artists wife and setter.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Thomas Eakins' ''Lady with her Setter Dog'', (1885).  This painting portrays Susan Macdowell, a pupil who became his wife in 1884.]]

In the late 1870s Eakins was teaching at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, concentrating on drawing and painting.  In a departure from Victorian norms, he removed the practice of drawing and painting from antique sculptures and replaced them with live nude models.  Unfortunately, Eakins could not convince many outside his classroom walls that painting from nudes was innocent in practice, and he was forced to resign from the Academy in 1886.

In the late 1870s Eakins was teaching at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, concentrating on drawing and painting.  In a departure from Victorian norms, he removed the practice of drawing and painting from antique sculptures and replaced them with live nude models.  Unfortunately, Eakins could not convince many outside his classroom walls that painting from nudes was innocent in practice, and he was forced to resign from the Academy in 1886.