The Biglin Brothers Turning the Stake
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
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Classification
Painting
Department
American Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection
Accession Number
1927.1984
Tags
About this artwork
Eakins's painting celebrates athletic teamwork while commemorating an actual event, a famous rowing race that took place on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia during May 1872. Throngs of spectators line the riverbank and watch as Barney and John Biglin negotiate the tricky turn around a stake marking the halfway point in the contest. Their competitors, seen in the middle distance at the right, lag behind. The Biglin brothers won the race, cementing their status as the most celebrated oarsmen o...