Portrait of Samuel Myers
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966
Accession Number
66.1493
About this artwork
Jh Purchased From Knoedler & Co., Inc., M., New York 1961
Art Historical Context
Thomas Eakins, one of America's foremost realist painters, created *Portrait of Samuel Myers* 1904, late in his prolific career. Born in Philadelphia in 1844, Eakins was renowned for hisinching commitment to anatomical accuracy and psychological depth in portraits, often drawing from background in medical illustration and photography. This painting exemplifies his signature style, capturing the sitter with a direct, lifelike intensity that bridged 19th-century academic traditions with modern realism. Painted during Eakins' final productive years—after controversies over nudity in his teaching...