Susan Hannah Macdowell Eakins (September 21, 1851 – December 27, 1938) was an American painter and photographer. Her works were first shown at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where she was a student. She won the Mary Smith Prize there in 1879 and Charles Toppan prize in 1882. One of her teachers was artist Thomas Eakins, who later became her husband. She made portrait and still life paintings. She was also known of her photography. After her husband died in 1916, Eakins became a prolific painter. Her works were exhibited in group exhibitions in her lifetime, but her first solo exhibition was held after she died.
Early life
She was the fifth of eight children of William H. Macdowell, a Philadelphia engraver and photographer, who also a skilled painter. He passed on to his 3 sons and 5 daughters his interest in Thomas Paine and freethought.[2][3] Both Susan and her sister Elizabeth displayed early interest in art, which was encouraged by their father. Susan was given an attic studio for her artwork. Aside from her artistic talents, she was also a proficient pianist.[4]
Thomas Eakins, Susan Hannah Macdowell, Unidentified Girl, Elizabeth Macdowell, and possibly Mary Macdowell at the Macdowell House, c. 1880-1882
Education
She was 25 when she met Eakins at the Hazeltine Gallery where his painting The Gross Clinic was being exhibited in 1876. It was also shown at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition.[3][5][5] Unlike many, she was impressed by the controversial painting and she decided to study with him at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, which she attended for six years.[4] At that time Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts was considered the best art school in the United States.[4] Before she studied with Eakins, she studied with Christian Schussele.[2] Under Eakins, she adopted a sober, realistic style similar to her teacher's. She was an outstanding student and winner of the Mary Smith prize for the best painting by a matriculating woman artist.[6] Her sister, Elizabeth, studied at the academy beginning in 1876, too. Other female art students were Mary Cassatt, Cecilia Beaux, Emily Sartain, and Alice Barber Stephens. They received a good education in art, but were restricted from painting live models.[2] During her time as a student, she became class secretary, during which time she pulled for inclusion of women artists in the life-drawing classes of nude models.[4]
Marriage
She married Eakins in 1884.[2] As director of the Pennsylvania of Fine Arts, Eakins had made the decision to use female and male nude models for the life studies classes for students of both genders. As a result of recriminations, he was asked to resign one year after their marriage. Even though he had support from some family and friends, it was a life-changing event that affected relationships in their lives and the Eakin's enthusiasm for life.[3]
Eakins spent most of her time supporting her husband’s career, entertaining guests and students, and faithfully backing him in his difficult times with the Academy, even when some members of her family aligned against Eakins.[7] The couple had no children.[8]
Thomas Eakins, Portrait of Susan Macdowell Eakins, Hirshhorn Museum
Susan Macdowell Eakins, Portrait of Thomas Eakins, posthumous, c. 1920-25, Philadelphia Museum of Art
Career
Eakins painted portraits, many of which included family members, and scenes of domestic life.[4] Between 1876 and 1882, Eakins exhibited her work at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. While she was married, Eakins only painted sporadically.[7] Both had separate studios in their home. She shared a passion for photography with her husband, both as photographers and subjects, and employed it as a tool for their art. She also posed nude for many of his photos and took images of him.[9] In 1898 she became a member and exhibited her works at the Philadelphia Photographic Salon,[7] including Child with Doll, one of her best photographs.[10] She exhibited in 1905 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.[2]
Of her paintings, Thomas Eakins said of her that she was more adept with color than he and that she was "as good as a woman painter as he had ever seen." Susan Casteras, art historian, said of her Portrait of a Lady, made in 1880, that it showed her "firm handling and solid anatomical construction blended with generally dark tonalities."[10]
After Thomas Eakin's death in 1916, she returned to painting, working nearly every day, adding considerably to her output. Her paintings were made in a style that became warmer, looser, and brighter in tone.[9] In 1936 her works and those of her husband and sister Elizabeth were exhibited at the Philadelphia Art Club.[2][10]
Woman in a Plaid Shawl, 1872
Gentleman and a Dog, 1878, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, Virginia
Still Life
Death
She died in 1938 and is buried in the Woodlands Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[11] It was not until 35 years after her death, in 1973, that she had her first one-woman exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.[6] In 1976 her work was included in the Nineteenth Century Women Artists exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art.[12]
In September and October 1977 an exhibition was held of the photographs and paintings of Susan, her sister Elizabeth and husband Thomas in Roanoke, Virginia at the North Cross School.[13]
Works
Her works included:[14]
Alfred Reynolds, oil on artist board, 1880-1900
Anguish, oil, 1916
Anna Hyatt Caldwell, oil. Mrs. Caldwell was the wife of Joseph Ralston Caldwell and died in 1935
Artist and Model, oil
Boy in Orange Shirt, oil
Chaperone, watercolor on paper, 1879
Child's Head, oil
Clarence Cranmer, oil, 1920-1925
Dancers, oil, c. 1890
David Wilson Jordon, oil, Palmer Museum of Art, Pennsylvania State University
Dora Adelman, oil, 1935
Double Figure Study, oil
Dr. William N. Bradley, oil, 1934
Edward Coles (1786-1868), oil, 1883, Chicago Historical Society
Fruit and Flower Arrangement, oil, c. 1880
Gentleman and Dog, oil, 1878, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, Virginia
Girl in Yellow Blouse (seated), oil on canvas
Girl in Yellow Blouse (standing), oil on canvas
Girl Reading, oil, c. 1879
Girl Reading, oil, 1925-1930
Girls Head from the Rear, oil, c. 1890-1900
Grandfather Macdowell, oil, 1879
Hannah Macdowell and Sister, oil, 1882
Hannah Trimble Gardner Macdowell, oil, 1880-1885
Joanna Wnukowska Kowalewski, oil, 1933
Kate Lewis, oil, 1884, Allentown Art Museum
Landscape, oil
Lenore Adelman, oil, 1933
Leroy Ireland, oil on canvas, 1910, Brooklyn Museum of Art
Lewis Sisters (at home), oil, 1932
Luigi Maratti, oil on canvas, 1932
Margaret Eakins, watercolor, c. 1878
Mrs. King, watercolor, 1879
Murray with Barry Statue, watercolor on paper
Music, oil on linen covered board, c. 1875, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Old Fashioned Dress, oil, 1880
Old Man, Portrait Sketch, oil, c. 1885-1895
Paul Crenshaw Physick, MD, oil, University of Pennsylvania
Peonies, oil, 1925
Pierre Menard, 1766 - 1844, oil on canvas, Chicago History Museum
Portrait of a Bearded Man, oil, 1932, Kennedy Galleries, New York, New York
Portrait of a Lady, oil, 1880
Portrait of a Man, oil, 1920-1930
Portrait of a Philadelphia Lady, 1890s
Portrait of a Soldier, oil, 1917
Portrait of a Woman, oil, c. 1880-1885
Portrait of Charles Bregler, oil on canvas, 1920s, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Portrait of David Wilson Jordan, oil, Palmer Museum of Art, Pennsylvania State University
Portrait of Thomas Eakins, oil, c. 1889, Philadelphia Museum of Art
Reflections, oil, 1881
Roseanna Williams, oil on wood panel, 1879, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Roseanna Williams, watercolor, 1879
Sculptor and Model, oil, 1924
Seated Girl in Tunic, oil, 1920-1930
Seated Old Woman Reading, oil
Spinning, watercolor, c. 1878
Still Life, oil, c. 1920
Still Life: Dish, Vegetable and Fruit, oil
Study of Cello Player, oil, c. 1895-1900
Study of a Man
Study of Susan, oil
Susan and Elizabeth Macdowell (self-portrait), oil, 1879
Susan and Elizabeth Macdowell (self-portrait), oil, 1910-1920
Susan and Elizabeth Macdowell (self-portrait), oil, 1925
Susan Hannah Macdowell Eakins (self-portrait as a child), oil, after 1861
Susan Hannah Macdowell Eakins (self-portrait), oil, c. 1910-1920, private collection
Tennis Player, oil, 1933
The Bibliophile, oil, 1932
The Spinners (Three Fates), oil on masonite
Thomas Cadwalader, 1795 - 1873, oil, 1882
Thomas Cowperthwaite Eakins, oil, c. 1920
Thomas Eakins Working at an Easel, oil on board, early to mid 1880s, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Two Ladies and Dog, oil, c. 1880-1885
Two Sisters, oil on canvas, 1879
Unidentified Girl, oil, c. 1879
Unidentified Man, oil, 1880-1900
Unidentified Woman, oil
Walter Gardner Macdowell, oil, 1880-1930
Watchful Guardian, oil, 1878
William H. Macdowell, Portrait Sketch oil, 1880-1881
William H. Macdowell, oil, 1881
William Pepper (1810-1864) oil, 1883, University of Pennsylvania
Woman in a Plain Shawl, oil on canvas, c. 1872
Woman in Profile, oil, c. 1890-1900
Woman Reading, oil on canvas, 1879-1884
Woman Seated, oil, 1880, was in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III
Woman with Book, oil
References
Lloyd Goodrich. Thomas Eakins, Volume II. Harvard Press, 1982. ISBN 0-674-88490-6. Page 283
Gaze, Delia (1997). Dictionary of Women Artists. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. p. 485. ISBN 1-884-964-21-4.
University of Rochester. Memorial Art Gallery. Seeing America: Painting and Sculpture from the Collection of the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester. University Rochester Press; 1 January 2006. ISBN 978-1-58046-246-4. p. 141.
Carol Kort; Liz Sonneborn. A to Z of American Women in the Visual Arts. Infobase Publishing; 1 January 2002. ISBN 978-1-4381-0791-2. p. 58.
Thomas Eakins. A Drawing Manual. Philadelphia Museum of Art; 2005. ISBN 978-0-300-10847-7. p. 7.
"Art Prices, Painting Value, Art Appraisal, Art Values, Auction Prices". AskART. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
Gaze, Delia (1997). Dictionary of women Artists. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. pp. 485–486.
Sidney D. Kirkpatrick. "The Revenge of Thomas Eakins: A Life in Somber Tones". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
Gaze, Delia (1997). Dictionary of Women Artists. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. p. 487.
Carol Kort; Liz Sonneborn. A to Z of American Women in the Visual Arts. Infobase Publishing; 1 January 2002. ISBN 978-1-4381-0791-2. p. 59.
Susan Macdowell Eakins. Woodland Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
Carol Kort; Liz Sonneborn. A to Z of American Women in the Visual Arts. Infobase Publishing; 1 January 2002. ISBN 978-1-4381-0791-2. p. 60.
North Cross School. Thomas Eakins, Susan Macdowell Eakins, Elizabeth Macdowell Kenton: an exhibition of paintings, photographs, and artifacts, Slack Hall, North Cross School, Roanoke, Virginia, 18 September-2 October 1977. Published for the North Cross School Living Gallery Exhibitions Program by Progress Press; 1977.
Search: Susan Macdowell Eakins. SIRIS database. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
External links
Traditional Fine Arts Organization
Artwork by Susan Macdowell Eakins in the Bryn Mawr College Art and Artifacts Collection
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