The first book-length study to explore the Philadelphia realist artist's lifelong fascination with historical themes, this examination of Eakins reveals that he envisioned his artistic legacy in terms different from those by which twentieth-century art historians have typically defined his art.

Taken from collections across the globe, this book features drawings, paintings, and photos of Eakins's male nudes, which showcase the artist's immense and still influential skill in rendering the male form. 50 illustrations.

The range of Thomas Eakins' (1844-1916) work is dazzling - handsome sporting scenes (sculling, swimming, baseball, boxing..), dramatic historical tableaux, psychologically incisive portraits, as well as sculptures and scientifically astute experiments with photography. His influence as both artist and teacher permeates American art history.

"Lavishly illustrated with more than 250 of Eakins's most significant paintings, watercolors, drawings, photographs, and sculpture, the book features essays by prominent scholars who place his art in the context of the history and culture of late nineteenth-century Philadelphia, where he lived."--BOOK JACKET.