Location

not on view

Description

Before beginning a large-scale painting such as The Biglin Brothers Turning the Stake, Eakins began a series of specialized studies. He outlined the space of the composition with perspective drawings, such as this sketch in graphite. Eakins also used figure studies when rendering a work, as well as landscape and architectural drawings and his own photographs (examples of which are elsewhere in the exhibition). The practice of using perspective drawings to work out the space of a painting dates back to the Renaissance, revealing Eakins’s academic training.

Citations

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 612 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 187 archive.org

Exhibition history

Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 19-March 23, 1980).

National Schools of Style. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 14-September 18, 1983).

America Draws. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1984-March 17, 1985).

Thomas Eakins: The Rowing Pictures. National Gallery of Art (June 23-September 29, 1996); Yale University Art Gallery (organizer) (October 11, 1996-January 14, 1997); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 19-May 18, 1997).

American Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (April 19-July 12, 1998).

Time Stands Still: Muybridge and the Instantaneous Photography Movement. The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 15-May 16, 2004).

Manly Pursuits: The Sporting Images of Thomas Eakins. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (organizer) (July 25-October 23, 2010).