19th Century Rowing Pictures by Thomas Eakins

Thomas Eakins - late 19th century rowing pictures were not well-received at the time, but they made important contributions to American art, and now he is considered one of the finest American realists.

Eakins was born in Philadelphia and educated in America, France and Spain. When he returned to America to begin his painting career, rowing was becoming a popular sport among the American middle class. Eakins was fascinated by the human body - he even attended medical school to study human anatomy - and with painting humans in action. A rowing enthusiast himself, he naturally began to paint a series of rowing pictures.

Eakins and Homer Winslow are probably the best know American realists. For both of them, realism involved portraying ordinary events and people as accurately as possible, without embellishment or artistic interpretation. Winslow's rural paintings and Eakins - rowing pictures are excellent examples of the genre.

Even though Eakins, rowing pictures were realistic, they were carefully composed and well-planned. They weren't painted extemporaneously; he made several preliminary sketches before touching a brush to canvas.

Eakins' style has been called scientific naturalism. He observes nature, but his observations are scientifically informed. And his rowing pictures carry a subtle comment about man's effect on the environment: every element that is a result of human action is geometric, while every natural element has a flowing, non-geometric form.

Thomas Eakins'rowing pictures, such as Max Schmidt in a Single Scull, have become American classics, some of the best examples of American realism.