The American realist painter Thomas Eakins is now widely acknowledged as one of the most important American artists, though during his lifetime he was a controversial figure whose work received little recognition. He worked exactingly from life, choosing as his subject the people of his hometown of Philadelphia. He produced several hundred portraits, usually of friends, family members, or prominent people in the arts and sciences, carrying the tradition of nineteenth century Realis...

The young Thomas Eakins's most revealing letters—published here for the first timeThe most revealing and interesting writings of American artist Thomas Eakins are the letters he sent to family and friends while he was a student in Paris between 1866 and 1870. This book presents all these letters in their entirety for the first time; in fact, this is the first edition of Eakins's correspondence from the period. Edited and annotated by Eakins authority William Innes ...