Thomas Eakins that was often as tender as it was vigorous, and to have preserved for us the essence of an American life which, indeed, he did not idealize—because it seemed to him beautiful beyond the necessity of idealization. Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important artists in American art history. For the length of his professional career, from the early 1870s until his health began to fail some 40 years later, Eakins worked exactingly
Conservation-restoration of Thomas Eakins' The Gross Clinic got a new picture blocked in and it is very far better than anything I have ever done." Work on the painting continued throughout summer of 1875, with Eakins holding multiple sessions with Dr. Gross at his home at 1729 Mount Vernon St. to produce studies for the final work. The work was likely finished by Christmas of 1875, evidenced by the gift of a portrait sketch of author and friend Robert C.V. Meyers, who modeled for the painting. Eakins submitted the painting for display at Memorial Hall during the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, but was rejected by Selecting