Artful Insight – Thomas Eakins

One of America’s foremost figure painters and portraitists, Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) is known for his paintings of Philadelphia’s scientists, sportsmen, and thinkers. However, in 1887, when Eakins was at a crisis point in his professional life, he headed west to seek solace in the landscape and physical work of a cattle ranch in Dakota Territory. Eakins’ time in the West inspired him for the rest of his life. This Artful Insight will discuss his work, focusing on the Dakota pictures, which offer a different view of the “typical cowboy.”