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Marek H Dominiczak, American Old Master: The Art and Science of Thomas Eakins, Clinical Chemistry, Volume 58, Issue 2, 1 February 2012, Pages 480–482, https://doi.org/10.1373/clinchem.2011.179028
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In the second half of the 19th century, American painting was changing. The scene dominated by the landscapists became enriched by figurative painting, mostly by painters who had trained in Europe. The number of paintings exhibited by American artists, both within the USA and abroad, was quickly increasing, and artists were taking up American themes more often (1, 2).
Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (1844–1916) was a Philadelphia man. He was born there and remained associated with the city for his entire life. From the very beginning his training was geared toward the figurative. At the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Eakins first drew from antique casts, as was the custom in art schools at that time, and attended lectures on anatomy, beginning in 1862. Later, he went to life drawing classes and attended courses on anatomy and dissection at the Jefferson Medical College (3).
Between 1866 and 1870, Eakins studied in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he drew extensively from the nude and worked in the atelier of Jean-Léon Gérôme (4). Gérôme painted highly finished neoclassicist images in a technically accomplished academic style. For a short time Eakins also worked with realist portrait painter Léon Bonnat (4). He later traveled to Spain, where he acquainted himself with the work of Velázquez.
