The Dancing Lesson

Thomas Eakins

1878 · Watercolor on off-white wove paper · The American Wing

This watercolor shows three male figures of different generations playing and responding to music. A framed copy of the famous photograph of Abraham Lincoln and his son Tad suggests the figures' familial relationships and emphasizes their emancipation. This watercolor gained Eakins his first award—a silver medal—at the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association exhibition in Boston in 1878.

Artist

Thomas Eakins

Date

1878

Medium

Watercolor on off-white wove paper

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Fletcher Fund, 1925