"Thar's Such A Thing As Calls in This World," illustration for "Mr. Neelus Peeler's Conditions"
Thomas Eakins
American Art
Reproduced as an illustration for a story in Scribner’s Monthly Magazine, this monochromatic wash drawing contrasts the body language of an industrious wife and that of her perennially lazy husband, Neelus Peeler, who justifies his lack of employment by claiming to be awaiting his “calls,” or true vocation. Rigorously trained in the art academies of Philadelphia and Paris, Thomas Eakins approached human anatomy and spatial depth with exacting realism, particularly evident in the foreshortened figure of the Peelers’ son reclining on the floor.
MEDIUM
Black ink with opaque white highlights on cream, medium-weight, smooth wove paper
DATES
1879
DIMENSIONS
Sheet: 10 7/16 x 12 1/4 in. (26.5 x 31.1 cm) (show scale)
SIGNATURE
Unsigned
COLLECTIONS
American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
30.1452
CREDIT LINE
Brooklyn Museum Collection
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
"Thar's such a thing as calls in this world," illustration for "Mr. Neelus Peeler's Conditions," Scribner's Monthly, vol. 18, issue 2 (June 1879), p. 256.
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Thomas Eakins (American, 1844â1916). "Thar's Such A Thing As Calls in This World," illustration for "Mr. Neelus Peeler's Conditions," 1879. Black ink with opaque white highlights on cream, medium-weight, smooth wove paper, Sheet: 10 7/16 x 12 1/4 in. (26.5 x 31.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, 30.1452 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 30.1452_PS6.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 30.1452_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2012
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