The Paris Letters of Thomas Eakins
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
The Paris Letters of Thomas Eakins Details
From Publishers Weekly From 1866 to 1870, Philadelphia native Thomas Eakins spent four very formative years abroad in Paris and Spain. Homer (Thomas Eakins: His Life and Art) has for the first time gathered and translated (from Eakins's Italian, French and even Old French) all of Eakins's private correspondence during this period. Arranged chronologically with brief summaries before each letter, the letters' covered topics range from painting to hats to Dante. They are chiefly written to Eakins's parents; his sister Fanny, to whom he most fully revealed himself; his other sister, Maggie, and to the artist Emily Sartain, to whom Eakins was connected romantically. One of the collection's first letters is also one of its most vivid; as he sailed to France, Eakins describes his flea-ridden hotel in New York, characterizing the city as having a great deal of life... too much in fact for the size of the place and contrasts the gallantry of the Frenchmen aboard with the baseness of Americans. On art, his most interesting comments are to his father and in the private notebook he kept in Spain, which concludes this essential contribution to the field of Eakins scholarship. 68 illus. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Read more Review "Although there are a number of excellent biographies, critical works, and published collections of the work of seminal American artist Thomas Eakins, this is the first collection of his letters from his years as a student in Paris (1866-70). . . . Highly recommended for scholars and art history students as well as general readers and young adults." (Library Journal)"Homer has been writing and lecturing about Eakins for 40 years, and his familiarity adds much to his annotations of these letters; he captures their essence even in the briefest synopses. Homer's second volume, collecting later Eakins letters, should continue to present this lucid perspective and, more important, promises further firsthand insights."---Edith Newhall, ArtNews Read more Review "These letters give a fuller view of Thomas Eakins during his formative years as a student in Europe than we have ever had―his developing artistic understanding, his psychological drives, his friendships, his peculiarities and obsessions, and his views about Paris, its culture, and the works of art he saw while living there. This book makes a major contribution."―Elizabeth Johns, author of Thomas Eakins: The Heroism of Modern Life"William Homer's edition of Thomas Eakins's Paris letters is a welcome contribution to the literature on (and by) one of our greatest painters. Nothing could be more impressive than the sheer imaginative and intellectual energy―also the constant good humor―with which the young Eakins meets the challenge waiting for him in Gérôme's studio as he takes the first crucial steps toward mastering the art of painting. More than ever, all admirers of Eakins's art are in Homer's debt."―Michael Fried, author of Why Photography Matters as Art as Never Before"Long awaited, this valuable collection of letters presents Thomas Eakins in his own words at a formative stage of his career, offering a fascinating record of triumphs and struggles as well as a lively display of the skills, interests, confident opinions, and complex personality of a great American artist."―Kathleen A. Foster, author of Thomas Eakins Rediscovered"This invaluable book provides a useful and entertaining account of the early life and thoughts of one of nineteenth-century America's most significant artists. The hundreds of Eakins's letters gathered here contain a wealth of information about his youthful thought processes, opinions, and artistic development."―Martin A. Berger, author of Man Made: Thomas Eakins and the Construction of Gilded Age Manhood"This invaluable book at last makes widely available the young Thomas Eakins's extensive correspondence from his years of study in Paris. Longtime Eakins biographer William Homer has edited these letters with illuminating insight and contextual information. Both the artist's own observations and the attendant commentary are likely to be indispensible for all future Eakins publications."―John Wilmerding, professor emeritus of American art, Princeton University Read more From the Inside Flap "William Homer's edition of Thomas Eakins's Paris letters is a welcome contribution to the literature on (and by) one of our greatest painters. Nothing could be more impressive than the sheer imaginative and intellectual energy--also the constant good humor--with which the young Eakins meets the challenge waiting for him in Gérôme's studio as he takes the first crucial steps toward mastering the art of painting. More than ever, all admirers of Eakins's art are in Homer's debt."--Michael Fried, author ofWhy Photography Matters as Art as Never Before"This invaluable book at last makes widely available the young Thomas Eakins's extensive correspondence from his years of study in Paris. Longtime Eakins biographer William Homer has edited these letters with illuminating insight and contextual information. Both the artist's own observations and the attendant commentary are likely to be indispensible for all future Eakins publications."--John Wilmerding, professor emeritus of American art, Princeton University"Long awaited, this valuable collection of letters presents Thomas Eakins in his own words at a formative stage of his career, offering a fascinating record of triumphs and struggles as well as a lively display of the skills, interests, confident opinions, and complex personality of a great American artist."--Kathleen A. Foster, author ofThomas Eakins Rediscovered"These letters give a fuller view of Thomas Eakins during his formative years as a student in Europe than we have ever had--his developing artistic understanding, his psychological drives, his friendships, his peculiarities and obsessions, and his views about Paris, its culture, and the works of art he saw while living there. This book makes a major contribution."--Elizabeth Johns, author ofThomas Eakins: The Heroism of Modern Life"This invaluable book provides a useful and entertaining account of the early life and thoughts of one of nineteenth-century America's most significant artists. The hundreds of Eakins's letters gathered here contain a wealth of information about his youthful thought processes, opinions, and artistic development."--Martin A. Berger, author ofMan Made: Thomas Eakins and the Construction of Gilded Age Manhood Read more From the Back Cover "William Homer's edition of Thomas Eakins's Paris letters is a welcome contribution to the literature on (and by) one of our greatest painters. Nothing could be more impressive than the sheer imaginative and intellectual energy--also the constant good humor--with which the young Eakins meets the challenge waiting for him in Gérôme's studio as he takes the first crucial steps toward mastering the art of painting. More than ever, all admirers of Eakins's art are in Homer's debt."--Michael Fried, author of Why Photography Matters as Art as Never Before"This invaluable book at last makes widely available the young Thomas Eakins's extensive correspondence from his years of study in Paris. Longtime Eakins biographer William Homer has edited these letters with illuminating insight and contextual information. Both the artist's own observations and the attendant commentary are likely to be indispensible for all future Eakins publications."--John Wilmerding, professor emeritus of American art, Princeton University"Long awaited, this valuable collection of letters presents Thomas Eakins in his own words at a formative stage of his career, offering a fascinating record of triumphs and struggles as well as a lively display of the skills, interests, confident opinions, and complex personality of a great American artist."--Kathleen A. Foster, author of Thomas Eakins Rediscovered"These letters give a fuller view of Thomas Eakins during his formative years as a student in Europe than we have ever had--his developing artistic understanding, his psychological drives, his friendships, his peculiarities and obsessions, and his views about Paris, its culture, and the works of art he saw while living there. This book makes a major contribution."--Elizabeth Johns, author of Thomas Eakins: The Heroism of Modern Life"This invaluable book provides a useful and entertaining account of the early life and thoughts of one of nineteenth-century America's most significant artists. The hundreds of Eakins's letters gathered here contain a wealth of information about his youthful thought processes, opinions, and artistic development."--Martin A. Berger, author of Man Made: Thomas Eakins and the Construction of Gilded Age Manhood Read more About the Author William Innes Homer is H. Rodney Sharp Professor Emeritus of Art History at the University of Delaware. His many books include Thomas Eakins: His Life and Art (Abbeville), Stieglitz and the Photo-Secession, 1902 (Viking Studio), and Alfred Stieglitz and the American Avant-Garde (Little, Brown). Read more
Reviews
Thomas Eakins, who ranks among America's foremost artists, is still a revered figure among artists of the so-called realist tradition. The book is comprised of a collection of the letters written when he was an art student in Paris, which had by the 1880's become the center for foreign study by those hoping to be superior painters in the United States. The editor has done a fine job in providing sufficient editorial notes to provide some understanding to the lay reader; however, all in all, I would guess that without some knowledge of the later, very difficult life and great achievements of Eakins, a reader will probably not find it a fruitful exercise. Non-specialists possessing some familiarity with his life and works, however, should find these products of his young mind and experience an interesting contrast with the charges made against him in mid-life that cost him his leadership of the Philadelphia Academy and the possibility of ever again occupying a permanent academic teaching post. I should note, again, that the reader has a highly qualified guide in the editor, who is a leading figure among academic scholars.
