Thomas Eakins, “Between Rounds”, 1898-99, Oil on Canvas, 127 x 101cm, Philadelphia Museum of Art
Most of Thomas Eakins’s paintings after 1886 were probing portraits; however, he returned to sporting subjects in the late 1890s with a series that he began after attending professional boxing matches at the Philadelphia Arena, which was then located diagonally across from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The resulting canvases were as revolutionary in their subject matter as his rowing scenes had been more than two decades earlier.
Thomas Eakins’s boxing and wrestling paintings are, however, even bolder in their subject matter than his early rowing pictures. Although the popular press, starting about 1900, featured images of prize fighting and accounts of boxers such as the famous John L. Sullivan, most artists turned away from depicting ring sports, which were associated with sanctioned violence, gambling, and alcohol.
Eakins fastidiously planned his “Between Rounds”. Every person portrayed in the painting posed for him. Eakins invited Billy Smith, a local featherweight, to pose for the boxer, asked other figures from the boxing world to re-enact their real-life roles in his Chestnut Street studio, and enlisted friends and relatives to pose for the spectators. The interior scenic location was the actual hall used by the fighters.
Although the painting does not depict a specific bout, Thomas Eakins combined details from several to give it verisimilitude and worked diligently to capture the atmospheric effects of dust and smoke in the arena. As usual, he minimized the drama, showing Billy Smith catching his breath rather than struggling against Timothy Callahan, his unseen, and ultimately successful, opponent.
I have been following your blog since before the Great Tumblr Inquisition, enjoying the wide range of artist exposure and the selection of quotes, which have been often-inspiring and ever-thoughtful choices of words. Thanks so very much. I look every day for the next installment to arrive to my email. It’s not that I don’t have other things to do, such as writing music (which I love to do), it’s [whatever ‘it’ is] that this has become a meditation and a very good way to open my day with coffee before the city becomes noisy again.
I am honored and humbled that you find my site so interesting, if not inspiring. Thank you again for visiting. I have a very wide range of interests, including all the arts, and try to discover new things each day, a trait I have had since my earliest days. May I ask, do you write music professionally or mainly for your own enjoyment? My best to you.