Tag Archive "thomas-eakins"

Studying the body, not just the figure – Anatomy/Academy at PAFA

By Kaitlin Kylie Pomerantz With little-seen gems from Philadelphia’s historic scientific institutions, as well as side-by-side art history ground shakers including Thomas Eakins’ Gross Clinic, Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase (no. 2), and Eadweard Muybridge’s early motion photographs, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art’s new exhibition, Anatomy/Academy, rephrases the dusty argument over the continued importance of human anatomy studies in art education while touching on a number of important sub-topics along the way. Rather than advocating a backwards or stodgy interest in the figure, this exhibition shows how the study of the human body progressed side by side with ... More » »

‘Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture’; an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery

There are now two stories about Hide/Seek: the exhibition, and the controversy. This piece will cover the first; a second one will address the controversy. Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, at the National Portrait Gallery, (NPG) , Smithsonian Institution through Feb. 13, 2011) is a serious examination of artistic conventions, particularly those of portraiture, as they concern a subject heretofore unspoken in the polite precincts of mainstream American museums. It addresses the manner, sometimes overt but often hidden, in which sexual difference has been manifest. The artists and their sitters include straight, gay, and the fluid range of ... More » »

Treats at the PMA’s Perelman Building

I stopped by the Perelmann Building at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) over the weekend thinking I’d spend an hour at the exhibition of North African Jewelry, and after three hours I left, only because the guards were trying to close the museum. An Eakins Masterpiece Restored: Seeing ‘The Gross Clinic’ Anew (through Jan. 9, 2011), which Peter Crimmins discussed here is an exemplary demonstration of how a museum can renew the public interest in an old favorite.  I suspect every visitor will learn something new about the painting, Eakins, masterpiece, and a very expensive, recent acquisition by the ... More » »

Restoration puts the drama back in the Gross Clinic

By Peter Crimmins The restoration crew at the Philadelphia Art Museum likes to say that The Gross Clinic now looks like it did when it came off Thomas Eakins easel in 1875. Only partially true. The way it is presented in the Museum’s Perelman Building is nothing like the debut the painting had at the 1876 Centennial Expo in Fairmount Park.

Gross Clinic the music video

Over the weekend I went to the University of Pennsylvania’s freshman reading program event. For the first time in its 19-year history, the reading program selected a painting for the incoming students to read and talk about, and not any painting but Thomas Eakins’ The Gross Clinic, surely one of the most contentious American paintings of all times and a recent cause celebre having been rescued from its near-purchase to the Crystal Bridges museum in Benton, AK.  (We at artblog heart this painting and were involved in the action to keep the work here–if you put Thomas Eakins or Gross ... More » »

Death and Stan the “Man,” or, the Gross Clinic in 2009?

My doctor back in New York was a D.O. rather than M.D. Doug Koch is a biologist at PCOM. That’s PCOM.edu. I thought it should be PCOM.com. It’s the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Doug says they’re stuck with PCOM. edu Whate’er.

Blick vs. Eakins

Now that we at artblog told you about the bargains at the new art supply store in town–Blick Art Supply (see post)–we will also share with you why some people are angry with the place. It seems the building that Blick has occupied has Thomas Eakins’ old studio at the top, and in moving in, Blick removed a plaque explaining this–according to a post signed CA Conrad at PhillySound blog. The post is one of those wonderful bloggy expressions of outrage at the insensitive yahoo world of business in a constantly changing world. It’s also still another chapter in the ... More » »

Look, we have a solution for you…we hope

Having trouble accessing Look!, our new videos by David Kessler, starring us, as if you don’t know. Here’s what we suggest. Click the image for the FLASH VERSION:Flash version. Click picture. We hope that opens for you. If it does, then you want to always click the flash option, which we will make available from now on. If your computer is loaded with RAM and can handle QUICKTIME MOVIES, you can click on this image below:Quicktime version. Click picture. We will also make this version available not just now but from now on. It’s your pick. Please let us know ... More » »

NEW – Episode 7 of Look! It’s Libby and Roberta

Hello artblog lovers, Episode 7 of Look! It’s Libby and Roberta is now running live on artblog (see column at the left and click the picture or the link below the picture). See all seven great episodes (each is a fun-filled conversation that takes less than 3 minutes of your time!!) at blip tv. Episode 7 takes us inside Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for a look at Thomas Eakins‘ painting The Gross Clinic and to the Morris Gallery to spend time with the Laylah Ali‘s drawings. We are very proud of these groundbreaking videos, directed by the most ... More » »

Charles Cushing’s new Gross Clinic

During the recent uproar and rescue efforts on behalf of the Gross Clinic, artist Charles Cushing undertook to paint a full-scale replica of the Eakins masterpiece. Charles just emailed that the work is done. And it’s for sale, art lovers, a veritable painted piece of art activism! Here’s Charles’s note and information on how to get hold of him. Dear Friends, Patrons, & Fellow Artists, This is an image of my recently completed copy of Thomas Eakins’ “The Gross Clinic”. I commenced the painting about 3 months ago during the fundraising campaign, as a way to raise awareness, and also ... More » »