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Article: The realism of Thomas Eakins.(Critical Essay)
- Article from:
- New Criterion
- Article date:
- December 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Foundation for Cultural Review. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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I would have them taught facts and things, rather than words and signs.
-- Stephen Girard, 1831.
My honors are misunderstanding, persecution & neglect, enhanced because unsought.
--Thomas Eakins, 1894
At first blush, the realism of Thomas Eakins seems an unpromising method for probing psychology. His method was an empiricism of almost clinical ruthlessness, grounded in anatomical study, dissection, and the photographic investigation of posture and movement. He did not banter charmingly with his sitters in order to coax lively expressions from them, as Sargent did, preferring to work in silence and look for those truths that cannot be ...