Wrestlers (painting)
Encyclopedia
Wrestlers is an 1899 painting by Thomas Eakins
, Goodrich catalog #317. Executed in oil on canvas
, it depicts two nearly naked men engaged in a wrestling
match. One figure has the other in a half nelson and crotch hold. Eakins painted the work from a nearly identical photograph.
The photograph was probably taken in Eakins's studio on Monday, May 22, 1899. The previous Friday, Eakins wrote to his friend, sportswriter Clarence Cranmer, asking for his assistance in posing the athletes.
G-319, the painting that Philadelphia Museum of Art
President Fiske Kimball
bought in 1926 and later donated to his museum, is thought to be an abandoned version, rather than a study for G-317. Letters from Cranmer to Kimball in the PMA Archives identify the man on top as Joseph McCann, a wrestler and championship boxer, but do not identify the man on the bottom.
According to Kimball's reminiscences: Cranmer (who was acting as the dealer for Mrs. Eakins) said the abandoned version had been valued low, and had not been included in the Thomas Eakins memorial exhibitions. "He said he would find out the price. It was $400. I bought it and by Christmas 1926 it was hanging in the library at Lemon Hill."
The oil sketch, G-318, apparently was painted after G-319, along with the finished version, G-317. In these, the men are shown at the Quaker City Barge Club
, which once stood on Philadelphia's Boathouse Row
.
Eakins's friend and protégé Samuel Murray
modeled a small sculpture of the wrestlers, that is also dated 1899.
Until 2007, the finished version of The Wrestlers (G-317) was part of the permanent collection of the Columbus Museum of Art
, Columbus, Ohio
. It and the study for it (G-318) are now reunited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
.
Thomas Eakins
Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator...
, Goodrich catalog #317. Executed in oil on canvas
Oil on Canvas
Oil on Canvas is a live album by the British band Japan, released in 1983 by Virgin Records. Although it is a live recording of their established material, the album also contains three new studio tracks , recorded separately by Sylvian, Sylvian/Jansen and Barbieri respectively...
, it depicts two nearly naked men engaged in a wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
match. One figure has the other in a half nelson and crotch hold. Eakins painted the work from a nearly identical photograph.
The photograph was probably taken in Eakins's studio on Monday, May 22, 1899. The previous Friday, Eakins wrote to his friend, sportswriter Clarence Cranmer, asking for his assistance in posing the athletes.
G-319, the painting that Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
President Fiske Kimball
Fiske Kimball
Fiske Kimball was an American architect, architectural historian and museum director.-Biography:Kimball was born in Newton, Massachusetts on December 8, 1888....
bought in 1926 and later donated to his museum, is thought to be an abandoned version, rather than a study for G-317. Letters from Cranmer to Kimball in the PMA Archives identify the man on top as Joseph McCann, a wrestler and championship boxer, but do not identify the man on the bottom.
According to Kimball's reminiscences: Cranmer (who was acting as the dealer for Mrs. Eakins) said the abandoned version had been valued low, and had not been included in the Thomas Eakins memorial exhibitions. "He said he would find out the price. It was $400. I bought it and by Christmas 1926 it was hanging in the library at Lemon Hill."
The oil sketch, G-318, apparently was painted after G-319, along with the finished version, G-317. In these, the men are shown at the Quaker City Barge Club
Fairmount Rowing Association
Fairmount Rowing Association is an amateur rowing club, founded in 1877. The facility, located at #2 Boathouse Row in the historic Boathouse Row of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Fairmount originally catered to blue-collar youths living in the Fairmount...
, which once stood on Philadelphia's 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...
.
Eakins's friend and protégé Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray
Samuel Aloysius Murray was an American sculptor, and protégé of the painter Thomas Eakins.-Murray and Eakins:...
modeled a small sculpture of the wrestlers, that is also dated 1899.
Until 2007, the finished version of The Wrestlers (G-317) was part of the permanent collection of the Columbus Museum of Art
Columbus Museum of Art
The Columbus Museum of Art is an art museum located in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio.-Building:...
, Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
. It and the study for it (G-318) are now reunited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
.
External links
- http://collectionsonline.lacma.org/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=focus;id=14525;type=101
- http://collectionsonline.lacma.org/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=record&id=156181&type=101