Drawing the Seine

Currently not on view

Drawing the Seine

1882

Thomas Eakins (American, 1844–1916)

Eakins projected his photograph of fishermen operating the capstan that hauled in their net and traced in faint pencil the outlines of the men, the patches of light on their slickers, the timbers of the retaining wall, and the foam of breaking waves. After he had brushed in his pigments, the artist atypically did not erase the underdrawing, perhaps because he exhibited this watercolor only twice before presenting it as a gift to the Philadelphia art collector John G. Johnson.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Drawing the Seine

Date:

1882

Artist:

Thomas Eakins (American, 1844–1916)

Medium:

Watercolor over graphite on cream wove paper

Dimensions:

Image: 10 1/8 inches × 13 inches (25.7 × 33 cm) Sheet: 11 1/4 × 16 1/2 inches (28.6 × 41.9 cm)

Classification:

Drawings

Credit Line:

John G. Johnson Collection, 1917

Accession Number:

Cat. 989

Geography:

Made in United States, North and Central America

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Currently not on view