Susan Macdowell Eakins Susan Macdowell Eakins Susan Hannah Macdowell Eakins (September 21, 1851 – December 27, 1938) was an American painter and photographer. Her works were first shown at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where she was a student. She won the Mary Smith Prize there in 1879 and Charles Toppan prize in 1882. One of her teachers was artist Thomas Eakins, who later became her husband. She made portrait and still life paintings. She was also known of her photography. After her husband died in 1916, Eakins became a prolific painter. Her works were exhibited in group exhibitions in her lifetime,
Conservation-restoration of Thomas Eakins' The Gross Clinic to their original detail seen in the 1917 photograph. Following the completion of the treatment an exhibition, "An Eakins Masterpiece Restored: Seeing The Gross Clinic Anew", was held between July 23, 2010 and January 9, 2011 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The use of x-radiography and infrared reflectography prior to the 2010 treatment revealed a wealth of information about Eakins' technique and the creation of "The Gross Clinic". An x-radiograph of the painting revealed a heavy build-up of paint behind the heads of the principal characters. Rather than building upon dark areas with light paint, as was the convention