Brief Biography-Thomas Eakins was born in Philadelphia. His first lessons in drawing were at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts before he took up studying anatomy, he also had an interest in photography. He was admitted to the Ecole Des Beaux Arts in Paris in 1866 where he studied for three years under Jean-Léon Gérôme. In a trip to Spain he was influenced by the works of Diego Velazquez and Francisco de Goya.
When he returned to Philadelphia he undertook anatomy classes again at the Jefferson Medical Centre. In 1873, he was appointed Professor of Painting and Director of the Schools at the Pennsylvania Academy, during this time, he married one of his students Susan Hannah MacDowell who also became a successful artist.
In 1886, he was asked to resign from the academy for using a male nude model in class and was dismissed from the Drexel Institute for a similar reason. Those events had a negative effect on his health and he retreated to Dakota where he recuperated for a summer period, painting cowboy scenes.
He favoured the style of realism, possibly due to his interest in anatomy and may have been influenced by the academicism of Jean-Léon Gérôme. Two of his many successful followers were Thomas Anshutz and Robert Henri.
His most famous painting is ‘The Gross Clinic’ depicting dissection, it currently hangs in the Philadelphia Museum.