Mary Macdowell
1880s
Medium
Platinum print
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
David Hunter McAlpin Fund, 1943
Accession Number
43.87.10
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Eakins' *Mary Macdowell* (1880s) is a platinum print portrait that captures the artist's mastery of photography as a tool for revealing human character. Eakins, a leading American realist painter and photographer often turned to the camera to study anatomy and expression with unflinching precision, bridging his work in oil painting and emerging photographic techniques. This intimate portrait of the titular woman exemplifies his direct gaze, presenting her with a quiet intensity that invites viewers to ponder her inner life. The platinum print medium, prized for its subtle tonal gradati...
About the Artist
Thomas Eakins · 1844–1916
Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) was an American painter, photographer, and educator who carried 19th-century American Realism to its highest achievement. Based in Philadelphia throughout his life, he created uncompromising portraits and genre scenes that depicted American life with a scientific precision and psychological depth unprecedented in his time. Born into an educated Philadelphia family, Eakin...