Thomas Eakins: The Rowing Pictures (Yale Art Gallery) [Paperback]

Ms. Helen A. Cooper (Author), Prof. Martin A. Berger (Contributor), Christina Currie (Contributor), Prof. Amy Werbel (Contributor)

Book Description

Series: Yale Art Gallery | Publication Date: July 11, 1998

During the 1870s, rowing because a tremendously popular sport in the United States. An enthusiastic rower, the young Philadelphia-born Thomas Eakins painted, sketched, and drew an extraordinary series of rowing pictures that were the most ambitious project of his early career. He brought to the theme his personal experiences as an avid amateur rower on his beloved Schuylkill River, and a scientific understanding of the physical effort involved. His 24 rowing works, which include some of the most celebrated and recognized images in the history of American art, are brought together and examined as a group for the first time in this beautiful book. They shed light on the artist's creative process and subsequent achievements as well as on social, cultural, and artistic concerns central to nineteenth-century audiences. Helen A. Cooper, along with essayists Martin A. Berger, Christina Currie, and Amy B. Werbel discuss various aspects of Eakins' rowing series, explaining his affection for the sport, his adoption of the images of popular culture into the realm of fine art, his commitment to novel, "modern" subjects, his preoccupation with perspective and measurement, and his belief that the most profound artistic truths were best expressed through the human figure - particularly the male figure. Just as sculling is dependent upon precision, practice and unwavering dedication, so the paintings were constructed from scrupulous observation of details and intense preparation. In the less than four years in which the rowing pictures were created, Eakins moved subtly from the analytic and descriptive toward the more intuitive and suggestive.

Product Details

• Paperback: 140 pages
• Publisher: YU Art Gallery (July 11, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300077858
• ISBN-13: 978-0300077858
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 7.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,419,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eakins on the Schuylkill River, August 21, 2010

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Thomas Eakins: The Rowing Pictures (Yale Art Gallery) (Paperback)

Any opportunity to study the works of Thomas Eakins is a pleasure. This small book from Yale University focuses on only one aspect of Eakins' work - The Rowing Pictures. Though there are only twenty-four true paintings of the Rowing Series, these paintings are so extraordinarily fine that having fewer of them makes the all the more precious. The creators of the book, based on an exhibition that started at The National Gallery of Art, are a solid group: Helen A. Cooper, Prof. Martin A. Berger, Christina Currie, and Prof. Amy Werbel have included the many sketches and perspective drawings upon which Eakins depended and added commentary about the artist's life and times - always a tricky door to open depending on the audience!

There is considerable writing about the sport of rowing, the areas where the paintings were based (the Schuylkill River), the particular rowers such as the Biglin Brothers, and Eakins fascination with the mechanism of the sculls - whether meant for one or two rowers. But the real glory of this series of paintings lies in the art works themselves. There is a majestically beautiful use of light and reflection as well as some closely observed muscular involvement required by this sport. The only flaw in this book is its rather small scale; making the book bigger and thus allowing better reproductions of the paintings would have enhanced this otherwise superb survey of one of the many branches of the art of Thomas Eakins. Grady Harp, August 10

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An American Masterpiece, March 24, 2008

By 

GodfatherInOhio (Westlake, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thomas Eakins: The Rowing Pictures (Yale Art Gallery) (Paperback)

Thomas Eakins is in my opinion the greatest artist that America's ever produced. His work is absolutely sublime. I saw some of his works at my local art museum. It's incredible, they paintings look almost like photographs, they're so lifelike.