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Thomas Eakins

Archbishop Diomede Falconio, 1905

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 183.2 x 137.7 cm (72 1/8 x 54 3/16 in.)

framed: 204.5 x 159.4 x 6 cm (80 1/2 x 62 3/4 x 2 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Stephen C. Clark

Accession Number

1946.16.1

Artists / Makers

Thomas Eakins (artist) American, 1844 - 1916

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Provenance

The artist [1844-1916]; by inheritance 1916 to his wife, Susan Macdowell Eakins [Mrs. Thomas Eakins, 1851-1938], Philadelphia, until at least 1922/1923; purchased 1928 by Reginald Marsh, New York;[1] sold 30 March 1943 through (William Macbeth, New York) to Stephen C. Clark [1882-1960], New York;[2] gift 1946 to NGA.

[1] In a letter of 4 August 1947 to James W. Lane (in NGA curatorial files), Reginald Marsh recollected buying the painting from Mrs. Eakins in Philadelphia in October 1928.

[2] Macbeth Gallery obtained the painting from Marsh on 25 March 1943 and sold it five days later to Clark; letter of 2 July 1947 from Robert B. McIntyre to James W. Lane (in NGA curatorial files).

Associated Names

Clark, Stephen Carlton
Eakins, Susan Hannah Macdowell
Eakins, Thomas
Macbeth Galleries
Marsh, Reginald

Exhibition History

1917: Loan Exhibition of the Works of Thomas Eakins, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1917, no. 51.

1917: Memorial Exhibition of the Work of the Late Thomas Eakins, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1917, no. 138.

1930: Sixth Loan Exhibition: Homer, Ryder, Eakins, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1930, no. 113.

1945: Thomas Eakins Centennial Exhibition, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1945, no. 106.

1961: Thomas Eakins: A Retrospective Exhibition, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Art Institute of Chicago; Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1961-1962, no. 91.

1970: Portraits by Thomas Eakins, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook, Pennsylvania, 1970, no cat. (organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art).

1970: Thomas Eakins Retrospective Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1970, no. 95, repro.

1993: Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) and the Heart of American Life, National Portrait Gallery, London, 1993-1994, no. 48, repro.

Technical Summary

The painting is on a medium-weight, plain-weave fabric that was lined sometime between 1930 and 1946. There is cusping only along the right edge, but the painting appears to be its original size. The lining fabric is inscribed "HANC EFFIGIEM ILLMI AC REVMI DIOMEDI FALCONIO ARCHLARISSENSIS ET DELEGATI APOSTOLICI IN STATIBUS FOEDERATIS AMERICAE SEPTEMTRIONALIS PINXIT THOMAS EAKINS WASHINGTONII MDCCCCV / EAKINS," which presumably was copied from the back of the original fabric. The paint ranges in consistency from low impasto to fluid glaze. A dark brown transparent imprimatura, although whether overall or only in selected areas is unclear, was applied over a white ground of medium thickness. Opaque lighter tones were scumbled over the dark underlayer. A glossy, probably pigmented layer that seems original surrounds the face and extends down to the collar. The painting was treated in 1981; discolored varnish was removed and the painting was restored.

Bibliography

1917: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the Late Thomas Eakins. Philadelphia, 1917: repro., unpaginated.

1930: Goodrich, Lloyd. "Thomas Eakins, Realist." Pennsylvania Museum Bulletin 25 (March 1930): 31, no. 283.

1933: Goodrich, Lloyd. Thomas Eakins: His Life and Work. New York, 1933: 201, repro. 66.

1942: McKinney, Roland. Thomas Eakins. New York, 1942: 15.

1959: Porter, Fairfield. Thomas Eakins. New York, 1959: repro. 73.

1961: Thomas Eakins: A Retrospective Exhibition. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Art Institute of Chicago; Philadelhia Museum of Art. Washington, D.C., 1961: 124, repro. 91.

1963: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 327, repro.

1967: Schendler, Sylvan. Eakins. Boston, 1967: 208, repro. 104.

1970: American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 52, repro., as Monsignor Diomede Falconio.

1974: Hendricks, Gordon. The Life and Work of Thomas Eakins. New York, 1974: 255, repro. 275.

1975: McBride, Henry. The Flow of Art. New York, 1975: 138-139.

1979: Gerdts, William H. "Thomas Eakins and the Episcopal Portrait: Archbishop William Henry Elder." Arts Magazine 53 (May 1979): 154-155, repro. 155.

1980: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 149, repro.

1980: Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 16, no. 39, color repro.

1981: Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 169, repro. 170.

1982: Goodrich, Lloyd. Thomas Eakins. 2 vols. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982: 2:188, 191, repro. 237.

1983: Johns, Elizabeth. Thomas Eakins: The Heroism of Modern Life. Princeton, 1983: 150, fig. 109.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 553, no. 837, color repro.

1988: Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 134, no. 44, color repro.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 167, repro.

1992: Homer, William Innes. Thomas Eakins: His Life and Art. New York, 1992: 226-227, color repro. 226.

1993: Wilmerding, John, et al. Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) and the Heart of American Life. Exh. cat. National Portrait Gallery, London, 1993: 34, 171, 172-175, 177, repro. 172, 175.

1996: Kelly, Franklin, with Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Deborah Chotner, and John Davis. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 178-182, color repro.

2006: The Clark Brothers Collect: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings. Exh. cat. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Williamstown and New Haven, 2006: 175, 177, 180, 315, 326 no. 116.