Thomas Eakins

Thomas Eakins was America's unfiltered realist, a painter who rendered his subjects with such unvarnished honesty that they often looked "tired, worried, unhappy, distressed, worn down, or even mentally unbalanced". He was a man of "iron will" who danced to his own beat, ignoring the popular art movements of his time. His dedication to realism was legendary, and so was his controversial teaching style. He insisted on students drawing from live nude models, a practice that scandalized polite society. This led to his forced resignation from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts after he removed a male model's loincloth in a class with female students. Rumors, of course, paint an even more colorful picture. It's whispered he had a habit of casually disrobing in his own home and once, to the shock of a female visitor in a friend's studio, appeared completely naked, supposedly thinking she might like to see a man in his natural state. While some of these tales may be tall, they capture the spirit of an artist who was undeniably, and unapologetically, himself.