The Revenge of Thomas Eakins (Henry Mcbride Series in Modernism and Modernity) [Paperback]

Sidney D. Kirkpatrick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2008 | Series: Henry Mcbride Series in Modernism and Modernity

Thomas Eakins was misunderstood in life, his brilliant work earned little acclaim, and hidden demons tortured and drove him. Yet the portraits he painted more than a century ago captivate us today, and he is now widely acclaimed as the finest portrait painter our nation has ever produced. This book recounts the artist’s life in fascinating detail, drawing on a treasure trove of Eakins family correspondence and papers that have only recently been discovered.

Never before has Thomas Eakins’s story been told with such drama, clarity, and accuracy. Sidney Kirkpatrick sets the painter’s life and art in the wider context of the changing world he devoted himself to portraying, and he also addresses the artist’s private life—the contradictory impulses, obsessions, and possible psychological illness that fired his work. Kirkpatrick underscores Eakins’s unflinching integrity as an artist and discloses how his profound appreciation of the beauty of the human form was both the source of his greatness and ultimately of his undoing. Nevertheless, the author observes, Eakins has had his “revenge,” inspiring a new generation of realist painters and gaining the recognition that eluded him in life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Biographer Kirkpatrick brings the cinematic clarity of a documentary filmmaker to this portrait of Thomas Eakins, the controversial Philadelphia portrait artist whose "failure to abide by the artistic trends that defined his times" resulted in work that was richly interesting and highly controversial. Kirkpatrick takes considerable pains to portray the contradictory philosophical moorings and childlike prurience that marked Eakins's eccentric career. Prior to Eakins's resignation from the Pennsylvania Academy amid muddied allegations of impropriety, his students held him-and the capital "E" he would place on canvases in which he saw marked improvement-in great esteem. And though he was a pioneer in the use of photography and a champion of nude modeling (he was "starved for the nude," as one woman who knew him put it), Eakins's stubborn social gracelessness and proclivity for intrigue made his place in the Philadelphia art world "something like that of a blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter." Kirkpatrick's ability to suggest, through the use of letters and family anecdotes, that Eakins was aware of-and to a degree, fostered-the Byronic attitude (drafting his own obituary, Eakins wrote, "My honors are misunderstanding, persecution, & neglect, enhanced because unsought") that characterized his career is both brilliant and subtle. But most importantly, Kirkpatrick gives Eakins convincing depth that reminds readers of the ways biography can enhance appreciation of art.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"'... a posthumous, too-long-delayed and entirely deserved critical rehabilitation.' William Packer, Literary Review 'Kirkpatrick presents the most complete biography of Eakins yet published.' Elizabeth Johns, The Art Newspaper 'Kirkpatrick's full-scale biography is well-researched and fluently written. It is particularly strong in its descriptions of the inner workings that were so important to Eakins's life, the Pennsylvania Academy in particular.' Christopher Benfey, New York Review of Books"

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1 edition (February 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300136447
• ISBN-13: 978-0300136449
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #178,767 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sidney D. Kirkpatrick is an award-winning filmmaker and international best-selling author. His critically acclaimed non-fiction books include A CAST OF KILLERS, TURNING THE TIDE, LORDS OF SIPAN, EDGAR CAYCE: AN AMERICAN PROPHET, THE REVENGE OF THOMAS EAKINS, and HITLER'S HOLY RELICS. His documentary film, MY FATHER THE PRESIDENT, about Theodore Roosevelt as seen through the eyes of his daughter, Ethel Roosevelt Derby, was a winner at the American Film Festival. HBO, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, and the A & E Television Networks have all featured his work. Biographical profiles of Kirkpatrick have appeared in The New York Times, Time Magazine, The New Yorker, and Playboy. He is a graduate of Hampshire College and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He lives in Ontario, Canada and Pasadena, Ca.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another terrific read from Sidney Kirkpatrick, April 11, 2006

By 

Dan (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Revenge of Thomas Eakins (Hardcover)

I'm a fan of Sidney Kirkpatrick's writing.

In previous efforts that I've read he has revealed (usually having in fact discovered) amazing true drama from the lives of little known individual heroes in the middle of well-known enormous events; the story of an archeologist who happened upon the largest Pre-Columbian Peruvian art discovery, the story of a disenfranchised marine biologist who took on one of the largest drug dealers in the 1980's cocaine traffic trade, the story of a 75 year old film director who tried to resurrect his career by solving Hollywood's most famous unsolved murder, as well as an amazing biography of the Michael Jordan of psychics- Edgar Cayce. Kirkpatrick has a knack for identifying and tackling great drama and he writes it beautifully to boot.

I knew of Thomas Eakins from his paintings of rowers on the Schuykill. From Kirkpatrick I was more properly introduced to Eakins and learned that he was a fiercely independent genius who was castigated, disgraced and impoverished.

The Revenge of Thomas Eakins is an apt title. Eakins was just far too ahead of his time.

Kirkpatrick's effortless style and attention to detail really drops you right into the mid to late 1800's, comfortably sharing the historical context along with development of Eakins.

I recommend you read this one right away.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, beautifully illustrated biography, June 8, 2006

By 

Avid reader (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Revenge of Thomas Eakins (Hardcover)

I highly recommend this well-written, balanced biography of Thomas Eakins. It would be a perfect choice for readers with any level of familiarity with Eakins' paintings. I agree with the other reviewers that the book does an excellent job of placing Eakins' work in its historical context. Eakins emerges as a fascinating personality, and a guy who would have been great to know. In my opinion, Kirkpatrick deals honestly with the controversial aspects of Eakins' character, but without dwelling on them ad nauseum.

I thought that the descriptions of the paintings themselves were especially effective. The book communicated exactly the information I wanted to read about for paintings like The Gross Clinic and Max Schmitt in a Single Scull: the main points of the design, the background and tecnhical details, the dramatic impact, and the pyschological levels. I have read very few biographies of artists that were this helpful.

The book is generously and beautifully illustrated. There are 42 color plates, and each of those paintings is described in detail in the text. There are also a number of drawings, sketches, maps, and photographs (some taken by Eakins, and others of Eakins and his family and friends). The photos in particular (such as the one of Eakins, himself nude, carrying a nude female toward the camera) underscore the independent and controversial aspects of Eakins' character.

This was a very enjoyable read, and a tribute to a great artist.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Biography brings Eakins and his world to life....., April 1, 2006

By 

Movie Maven (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Revenge of Thomas Eakins (Hardcover)

This is really the first book written that tells the full Thomas Eakins biography in context and gives all the details without the kind of filter that sometimes says more about the writer than it does about the subject. Kirkpatrick takes us back to turn-of-the-century America and allows us to see Eakins' life and work in the context of his times--and lets us make up our own minds. It is a wonderful read and an excellent biography for everybody-even those who don't know of Eakins or his work. I loved it!