B.J. Blommers
Artist: Thomas Eakins (American, 1844-1916)
Date: 1904
Dimensions:
Frame: 30 1/2 × 26 1/2 × 2 in. (77.5 × 67.3 × 5.1 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of Florence Scott Libbey
Object number: 1937.16
Label Text:With an anti-establishment attitude and an uncompromising painting and teaching style, Thomas Eakins’ career was marked by controversy and little commercial success (he only sold about 30 paintings during his lifetime). However, his frank, realistic portraits and sporting scenes have since elevated him to one of the most revered of American artists.
He painted Dutch artist B. J. Blommers (1845–1914) in Philadelphia in 1904. The portrait gives the impression of having been painted very quickly—look for areas of exposed canvas—despite the fact that Eakins usually required multiple sittings of his subjects. Eakins generally avoided decorative elegance and flattery in his portraits, offering instead an honest description of the sitter’s appearance and the suggestion of his or her inner, perhaps melancholy, thoughts. The intensity and psychological insight of Eakins’ late portraits have even drawn comparisons to Rembrandt.
He painted Dutch artist B. J. Blommers (1845–1914) in Philadelphia in 1904. The portrait gives the impression of having been painted very quickly—look for areas of exposed canvas—despite the fact that Eakins usually required multiple sittings of his subjects. Eakins generally avoided decorative elegance and flattery in his portraits, offering instead an honest description of the sitter’s appearance and the suggestion of his or her inner, perhaps melancholy, thoughts. The intensity and psychological insight of Eakins’ late portraits have even drawn comparisons to Rembrandt.
Not on view
In Collection(s)