The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 37, no. 4

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I: :: ."' %);C ,C :i Z,i;i ;r =--II ,- - r ;iC`i;Z1TrV -r: :Y.-e :il '''' ri, 1 :. t ::aL': ic .iY) --_. .-- r --lC )_-: -z ;_ .j. '5,;.'" --;r.r re. iaic; ,-- THOMAS EAKINS The Pathetic Song, about 1881 THOMAS EAKINS John Biglin in a Single Scull, 1873-74 Eakins painted about two dozen watercolors, mostly in the critical years between 1873 and 1882, when American watercolor painting was enjoying its greatest growth. The works on these two pages bracket his major decade of activity with its changing subject matter. Before 1875, all of his watercolors were outdoor scenes, paint active bodies unhampered by clothing, amidst bright effects of sunlight and reflection. Watercolor, with its clean washes and reflecting surface, was well suited to the haze and sparkle of his sunny river scenes. The large scale and delicate finish of John Biglin was not unusual among watercolorists of this period, but His academic training, or perhaps his insecurity, demanded such a method, for John Biglin was one of Eakins's debut entries at the American Watercolor Society's exhibition in New York in 1874. After 1875 Eakins turned to warm, dark interiors dominated by women and old people. Though more confined by space
world liberated the body, Eakins's indoor, feminine world allowed emotion, contemplation, and art, especially music. The Pathetic Song, a watercolor replica of the larger oil of the same title from 1881, depicts the center of this cultural sphere, the parlor, where the taste and aspirations of the women in a Victorian home held plishment, a Sunday afternoon concert at home drew upon the talents of family members and friends; here, both Margaret Harrison (the singer, who was given the watercolor copy for her help modeling) and Susan MacDowell (later Mrs. Eakins) were students in Eakins's art classes, and not professional musicians like the cellist, ballad with "pathetic" themes of love, untimely death, and virtue. Eakins's restrained treatment of this scene proves again his subtlety with material from everyday life. Without attempting to flatter the ordinary faces and ungainly dresses of the day, he made a gentle study of light and mood, and let his own sympa-
Page 1 and 2: ~ ~i ,,a~ -~aT"'A* ~ " r7:--~~~~~~
Page 3 and 4: GERALD M. THAYER Male Ruffed Grouse
Page 5 and 6: so much as a guardian of standards
Page 7 and 8: t Publishers with a keen business s
Page 9 and 10: a lisiS xy,MDCi ' PETER PELHAM Cott
Page 11 and 12: n BERNARD ROMANS An Exact View of t
Page 13 and 14: k a rCi~L L r " -: ,. \, ( J. S. CO
Page 15 and 16: JOHN VANDERLYN Sarah Russell Church
Page 17 and 18: ASHER BROWN DURAND Ariadne, 1835 ED
Page 19 and 20: 3 There is simultaneously an enigma
Page 21 and 22: J. R. SMITH Shop and Warehouse of D
Page 23 and 24: JOHAN HENRICH OTTO Fraktur Motifs,
Page 25 and 26: D. W. KELLOGG & CO. Memorial Print,
Page 27 and 28: JOHN HILL after WALL The Palisades,
Page 29 and 30: .'"" / . JOHN E KENSETT Birch Tree,
Page 31 and 32: H. PAPPRILL after J. W HILL .. . --
Page 33 and 34: THOMAS NAST "Let Us Prey," 1871 EDW
Page 35 and 36: WILLIAM TROST RICHARDS Lake Squam f
Page 37 and 38: C I~ rv~~~~~~~~~~1 E P P %.........
Page 39 and 40: WINSLOW HOMER Inside the Bar, Tynem
Page 41: THOMAS EAKINS The Gross Clinic, 187
Page 45 and 46: CHARLES ABEL CORWIN Portrait of Whi
Page 47 and 48: MARY CASSATT The Fitting, 1891 form
Page 49 and 50: 'p. K K ' ' ' \ K ...K. KK ' ..' '
Page 51 and 52: JOHN SINGER SARGENT The Escutcheon
Page 53 and 54: ............:::_:':--::~i::::: ::_:
Page 55 and 56: HENRY MARSH Moth and Beetles, 1862

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 37, no. 4

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