Home Scene
Thomas Eakins
American Art
Model Sisters
Thomas Eakins and John Singer Sargent were just beginning their hugely successful careers when they turned to cherished sisters as their models for these two intimate works. Although both had studied figure painting in Paris, they found powerful inspiration in Dutch and Spanish seventeenth-century painting (especially the works of Rembrandt van Rijn and Diego Velázquez), famous for their expressive description of light and shadow.
Eakins painted his sister Margaret (1853–1882) overseeing the younger Caroline (1865–1889) at a time when their mother was gravely ill. Sargent’s similarly tender and richly brushed portrait of his little sister Violet (1870–1955) is his earliest surviving oil portrait.
Thomas Eakins and John Singer Sargent were just beginning their hugely successful careers when they turned to cherished sisters as their models for these two intimate works. Although both had studied figure painting in Paris, they found powerful inspiration in Dutch and Spanish seventeenth-century painting (especially the works of Rembrandt van Rijn and Diego Velázquez), famous for their expressive description of light and shadow.
Eakins painted his sister Margaret (1853–1882) overseeing the younger Caroline (1865–1889) at a time when their mother was gravely ill. Sargent’s similarly tender and richly brushed portrait of his little sister Violet (1870–1955) is his earliest surviving oil portrait.
MEDIUM
Oil on canvas
DATES
ca. 1871
DIMENSIONS
21 7/16 × 18 in. (54.4 × 45.7 cm)
frame: 29 × 25 × 3 in. (73.7 × 63.5 × 7.6 cm) (show scale)
SIGNATURE
Signed lower right: "Eakins"
COLLECTIONS
American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
50.115
CREDIT LINE
Gift of George A. Hearn and Charles A. Schieren, by exchange, Frederick Loeser Fund and Dick S. Ramsay Fund
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Thomas Eakins (American, 1844–1916). Home Scene, ca. 1871. Oil on canvas, 21 7/16 × 18 in. (54.4 × 45.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of George A. Hearn and Charles A. Schieren, by exchange, Frederick Loeser Fund and Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 50.115 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 50.115_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 50.115_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
No known copyright restrictions
This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement.
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply).
The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act.
The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals.
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
