The Writing Master

Thomas Eakins

1882 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

Eakins probably had his first drawing lessons from his father, a professional calligrapher and teacher of penmanship at Friends’ Central School in Philadelphia. Here, Benjamin Eakins (1818–1899) is shown engaged in copying a document in an old-fashioned “copperplate” script. While the serious and affectionate portrayal of an aging craftsman is saturated with Rembrandtesque eloquence and nostalgia, Eakins’s delineation of his father’s head and hands reveals his skills of observation and description. Benjamin Eakins’s wise investments gave his son lifelong financial security.

Artist

Thomas Eakins

Date

1882

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1917