SOLD Seated Boy with Book (on verso: Baby Girl Playing)
by Thomas Eakins (1844–1916)13⅛ x 10⅛ inches (sight size)
Inscribed and initialed lower left: Study by / T.E.
Provenance
The artist
Susan Macdowell Eakins, wife of the artist
James Graham & Sons, New York, New York
Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, acquired from above, April 13, 1962
Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans Foundation, gift from above, December 31, 1985
Sale, Bonhams, New York, New York, July 29, 2020, lot 22, from above
Private collection, acquired from above
Private collection, New York, New York
Exhibited
The Lawrenceville School, New Jersey, Collector’s Choice, October 1987–November 1988
The Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina, North Carolina Collects: Traditional Fine Arts and Decorative Arts, July 9–September 30, 1994
The Lawrenceville School, New Jersey, The Collector’s Eye Two: Works from the Collection of Lawrenceville Alumni, May 3–17, 1996
Olin Hall Galleries, Roanoke College, Salem, Virginia, October 17–November 24, 1997
Duke University Museum of Art, Durham, North Carolina, July–August 1999
Duke University Museum of Art, Durham, North Carolina, November 2002–February 2003
Asheville Art Museum, North Carolina, March 1, 2009–March 1, 2010
North Carolina Central University, Durham, North Carolina, January–June 2013
Literature
Lloyd Goodrich, Thomas Eakins: His Life and Work (New York: Whitney Museum of Art, 1933), 169, no. 100. (as Studies of a Baby)
North Carolina Collects: Traditional Fine Arts and Decorative Arts (Charlotte: The Mint Museum of Art, 1994), 24–25, no. 16. (as Study of a Baby at Play)
Related Work
Baby at Play, 1876, oil on canvas, 32¼ x 48⅜ inches; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Note: Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans (1920–2012) was a philanthropist, politician, and patron of the arts. She served on the Duke University Board of Trustees and helped found the North Carolina School of the Arts in the 1960s.
Thomas Eakins created numerous figurative studies, often depicting his subjects engaged in everyday activity. He would observe his models with scientific precision, focusing on both the physical and psychological states of the individual. In this work, Eakins depicts a young boy concentrating on the book in his lap, while the verso image shows two depictions of a young child playing on the floor.
Artist Biography
Pioneering American realist painter, photographer, and teacher.
By Anna J. Murphy
A deep commitment to portraying subjects exactly as he saw them earned Thomas Eakins a reputation as a dedicated realist.
I. Biography
II. Chronology
III. Collections
IV. Exhibitions
V. Memberships
VI. Suggested Resources
I. Biography
Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins was a leading figure of the American realist movement, known for his scientific approach utilized to capture the truth of his subjects. His oeuvre, which includes hundreds of portraits, largely depicts people and scenes from his surroundings, offering a uniquely candid glimpse at the
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