Max Schmitt in a Single Scull
Encyclopedia
Max Schmitt in a Single Scull (also known as The Champion Single Sculls or The Champion, Single Sculls) is an 1871 painting by Thomas Eakins
in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
. Set on the Schuylkill River
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, it celebrates the victory of Eakins's friend Max Schmitt in the October 5, 1870, single scull
s competition.
— as, it is presumed, was Eakins — one of nine men's clubs in the Schuylkill Navy
, and twelve that rowed on the river. The Schuylkill Navy was organized in 1858, with approximately 300 members, and began hosting annual regattas in 1859 (with a 4-year hiatus for the American Civil War
). Initially, the races were for 6-oared and 4-oared gigs
and barges, but a new kind of lightweight craft was rapidly gaining popularity: the racing scull
.
Sculls, or shells, were narrower, longer, and a lot faster. Gigs had their oarlocks mounted on the sides (like a rowboat), but sculls had them a couple feet outside the boat thanks to riggers, triangular braces that projected out from the sides. This increased the efficiency of every stroke, and led to much longer oars. Meanwhile, boats got longer and hulls got narrower, until they were as narrow as was possible while still retaining sufficient buoyancy and balance.
Schmitt was an early convert to sculls, and owned his own, named "Josie" (after his sister). In September 1866, the Schuylkill Navy's annual regatta first featured a single-sculls race (3 miles, 1 turn), and Schmitt won it. He won again the following July, but came in second to another Pennsylvania Barge rower in a longer (4 miles, 1 turn) race in September 1867. He did not participate in 1868, when fellow Pennsylvania Barge rowers won first and second. Schmitt won the single-sculls title again in June 1869, but came in second to an Undine Barge Club
rower in September.
The course was 3 miles long: beginning near Turtle Rock (Turtle Rock Light
is the lighthouse at the northwest end of Boathouse Row
), proceeding upriver under the Girard Avenue
and Pennsylvania Railroad Connecting Bridges to a stake near the Columbia Railroad Bridge
, making a 180-degree turn around the stake, and then heading downriver back to the starting line.
Schmitt not only re-established himself as the pre-eminent rower on the Schuylkill River
, he set a new record, completing the 3-mile, 1-turn course in 20:00 minutes.
Schmitt did not defend his title the following year, and Lavens won with a time of 19:59 minutes, shaving one second off Schmitt's record. Schmitt raced one-on-one against Lavens for the single-sculls championship in 1872, and won (but did not beat Lavens's record). Schmitt sat out 1873, and Lavens won again. The two raced one-on-one again in 1874, and Schmitt won again. Having regained the championship (but not the record) and never having been defeated by Lavens, Schmitt retired from single-sculls competition. But that same year, he and Lavens joined forces to help win the Four-Oared Shell competition for the Pennsylvania Barge Club. Another Eakins painting (unfinished) may commemorate that June 17, 1874 victory.
in Paris. He was a witness to Schmitt's victory in October. The painting's composition echoes the event by reproducing the weather conditions/position of the sun at the date and time of Schmitt's triumph.
Schmitt is depicted rowing upstream; his location is just south of the Columbia Railroad Bridge, the midpoint of the race. Eakins, who was also a keen rower, included himself as the sculler in the middle distance.
:
From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
"This painting, the first of 24 rowing paintings that Eakins completed over the course of four years, was the first time rowing was the focus of serious art. However, the stuffy Philadelphia critics didn’t take well to Eakins’ subject matter, even though rowing was, at the time, one of the most popular sports. A critic remarked that his subject matter was 'a shock to the artistic conventionalities of the city'."
Thomas Eakins
Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator...
in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
. Set on the Schuylkill River
Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River is a river in Pennsylvania. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River.The river is about long. Its watershed of about lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania. The source of its eastern branch is in the Appalachian Mountains at Tuscarora Springs, near Tamaqua in...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, it celebrates the victory of Eakins's friend Max Schmitt in the October 5, 1870, single scull
Single scull
A single scull is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand....
s competition.
The Scull
Max Schmitt (1843–1900) had gone to high school with Eakins, and the two were close friends. Schmitt was a member of the Pennsylvania Barge ClubPennsylvania Barge Club
Pennsylvania Barge Club is an amateur rowing club, situated along the historic Boathouse Row of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1861 and joined the Schuylkill Navy in 1865. The Club's boathouse, at #4 Boathouse Row, is also known as the Hollenback House, named for William M...
— as, it is presumed, was Eakins — one of nine men's clubs in the Schuylkill Navy
Schuylkill Navy
The Schuylkill Navy is an association of amateur rowing clubs of Philadelphia. Founded in 1858, it is the oldest amateur athletic governing body in the United States...
, and twelve that rowed on the river. The Schuylkill Navy was organized in 1858, with approximately 300 members, and began hosting annual regattas in 1859 (with a 4-year hiatus for the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
). Initially, the races were for 6-oared and 4-oared gigs
Cornish pilot gig
The Cornish pilot gig is a six-oared rowing boat, built of Cornish narrow leaf elm, long with a beam of four feet ten inches.It is recognised as one of the first shore-based lifeboats that went to vessels in distress, with recorded rescues going back as far as the late 17th century.The original...
and barges, but a new kind of lightweight craft was rapidly gaining popularity: the racing scull
Racing shell
In watercraft, a racing shell is an extremely narrow, and often disproportionately long, rowing boat specifically designed for racing or exercise. It is outfitted with long oars, outriggers to hold the oarlocks away from the boat, and sliding seats...
.
Sculls, or shells, were narrower, longer, and a lot faster. Gigs had their oarlocks mounted on the sides (like a rowboat), but sculls had them a couple feet outside the boat thanks to riggers, triangular braces that projected out from the sides. This increased the efficiency of every stroke, and led to much longer oars. Meanwhile, boats got longer and hulls got narrower, until they were as narrow as was possible while still retaining sufficient buoyancy and balance.
Schmitt was an early convert to sculls, and owned his own, named "Josie" (after his sister). In September 1866, the Schuylkill Navy's annual regatta first featured a single-sculls race (3 miles, 1 turn), and Schmitt won it. He won again the following July, but came in second to another Pennsylvania Barge rower in a longer (4 miles, 1 turn) race in September 1867. He did not participate in 1868, when fellow Pennsylvania Barge rowers won first and second. Schmitt won the single-sculls title again in June 1869, but came in second to an Undine Barge Club
Undine Barge Club
Undine Barge Club is an amateur rowing club located at #13 Boathouse Row in the historic Boathouse Row along the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The club was founded in 1856. Undine was not initially listed as a founder of the Schuylkill Navy, but is now considered a founder...
rower in September.
The Race
In 1870 the four top rowers in the Schuylkill Navy all belonged to the Pennsylvania Barge Club: Schmitt, Charles Brossman (who had won the title in 1868, and beaten Schmitt in the 4-mile race in 1867), Austin Street (who had placed second in 1868), and John Lavens, Jr.The course was 3 miles long: beginning near Turtle Rock (Turtle Rock Light
Turtle Rock Light
The Turtle Rock Light is a lighthouse built in 1887 to aid traffic on the Schuylkill River near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The lighthouse was constructed by Frank Thurwanger at a cost of $2,663 on an area of land just west of Boathouse Row. The lighthouse has a hexagonal lantern room with an...
is the lighthouse at the northwest end of Boathouse Row
Boathouse Row
-Early 19th century beginnings:The history of Boathouse Row begins with the construction of the Fairmount Dam and the adjacent Water Works. The Dam was built in 1810 as part of a lock at the Falls of the Schuylkill to bring coal downriver. The Dam submerged rapids and transformed the Schuylkill...
), proceeding upriver under the Girard Avenue
Girard Avenue Bridge
The Girard Avenue Bridge is an automobile and trolley bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that carries Girard Avenue over the Schuylkill River. It connects the east and west sections of Fairmount Park, and the Brewerytown neighborhood with the Philadelphia Zoo. The current bridge is the third...
and Pennsylvania Railroad Connecting Bridges to a stake near the Columbia Railroad Bridge
Columbia Railroad Bridge
Columbia Railroad Bridge is a 1920 concrete arch bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that carries CSX Trenton Subdivision rail lines over the Schuylkill River. It is located in Fairmount Park, upstream from the Pennsylvania Railroad Connecting Bridge. It is also known as Columbia Bridge.-First...
, making a 180-degree turn around the stake, and then heading downriver back to the starting line.
"Starting well together, Schmitt soon drew ahead followed by Street, Brossman and Lavens. When under the Girard Avenue Bridge, Brossman and Street fouled, the oars of one resting on the boat of the other. Schmitt was now three full lengths ahead. Street and Brossman again fouled in the attempt of the former to turn the eastern stake, thus crossing Brossman's bow. Schmitt had no trouble in maintaining the advantage he had gained, and won easily."
Schmitt not only re-established himself as the pre-eminent rower on the Schuylkill River
Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River is a river in Pennsylvania. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River.The river is about long. Its watershed of about lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania. The source of its eastern branch is in the Appalachian Mountains at Tuscarora Springs, near Tamaqua in...
, he set a new record, completing the 3-mile, 1-turn course in 20:00 minutes.
Schmitt did not defend his title the following year, and Lavens won with a time of 19:59 minutes, shaving one second off Schmitt's record. Schmitt raced one-on-one against Lavens for the single-sculls championship in 1872, and won (but did not beat Lavens's record). Schmitt sat out 1873, and Lavens won again. The two raced one-on-one again in 1874, and Schmitt won again. Having regained the championship (but not the record) and never having been defeated by Lavens, Schmitt retired from single-sculls competition. But that same year, he and Lavens joined forces to help win the Four-Oared Shell competition for the Pennsylvania Barge Club. Another Eakins painting (unfinished) may commemorate that June 17, 1874 victory.
The Painting
Eakins returned to Philadelphia in July 1870, following four years of study at the École des Beaux-ArtsÉcole des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
in Paris. He was a witness to Schmitt's victory in October. The painting's composition echoes the event by reproducing the weather conditions/position of the sun at the date and time of Schmitt's triumph.
Schmitt is depicted rowing upstream; his location is just south of the Columbia Railroad Bridge, the midpoint of the race. Eakins, who was also a keen rower, included himself as the sculler in the middle distance.
The Reception
The painting was exhibited only once during Eakins's lifetime; at the Union League of Philadelphia for four days in April 1871. The reviews were mixed. From the Philadelphia BulletinPhiladelphia Bulletin
For the 2004 resurrection of the Bulletin, see The Bulletin .The Philadelphia Bulletin was a daily evening newspaper published from 1847 to 1982 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the largest circulation newspaper in Philadelphia for 76 years and was once the largest evening newspaper in the...
:
"The latter artist [Thomas Eakins], who has lately returned from Europe and the influence of Gérôme, has also a picture entitled 'The Champion Single Sculls' (No. 137), which, though peculiar, has more than ordinary interest. The Artist, in dealing so boldly and broadly with the commonplace in nature, is working upon well-supported theories, and despite a somewhat scattered effect, gives promise of a conspicuous future."
From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
"Thomas Eakins shows two, a portrait and a river scene, entitled 'The Champion Sculls.' While manifesting a marked ability, especially in the painting of the rower in the foreground, the whole effect is scarely satisfactory. The light on the water, on the rower and on the trees lining the bank indicates that the sun is blazing fiercely, but on looking upward one perceives a curiously dull leaden sky."
"This painting, the first of 24 rowing paintings that Eakins completed over the course of four years, was the first time rowing was the focus of serious art. However, the stuffy Philadelphia critics didn’t take well to Eakins’ subject matter, even though rowing was, at the time, one of the most popular sports. A critic remarked that his subject matter was 'a shock to the artistic conventionalities of the city'."
External links
- Catalogue reference at the Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
website. Accession Number: 34.92. - Schuylkill Navy History