[William H. Macdowell and Margaret Eakins in Saltville (or Clinch Mountain), Virginia]

Thomas Eakins

1880–82 · Platinum print · Photographs

This view, perhaps one of the earliest photographs by Thomas Eakins, shows William H. Macdowell, the Philadelphia engraver (later Eakins' father-in-law), the artist's sister, and two boys on a casual outing to Clinch Mountain, Virginia. The sitters rest on a rough-hewn bench in the shadow of a quarried rock wall that serves like a neutral studio backdrop or curtain for the summer tourists.

Artist

Thomas Eakins

Date

1880–82

Medium

Platinum print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gift of Charles Bregler, 1941