GENERAL DESCRIPTION
After resigning as the Director of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) in 1886, Thomas Eakins concentrated on portrait and figure painting. During this period he exhibited infrequently, received few commissions, and endured unsupportive treatment from art critics. Despite these difficulties, Eakins continued his efforts to portray the psychological reality of his sitters rather than to create fashionable likenesses. He had difficulty securing commissions for portraits, partly because of his insistence on a realism not compatible with contemporary genteel values. His subjects were often friends, students, or individuals whose intellect interested the artist— such as doctors, teachers, musicians, and clergymen. Eakins portrayed his sitters with an uncompromising realism and psychological insight into character. His late portraits, especially those of women, are often pervaded with a sense of melancholy.
Miss Gertrude Murray is an uncommissioned work done by the artist out of friendship. Miss Murray was the sister of Samuel Murray (1869-1941), a Philadelphia sculptor who initially studied at PAFA under Eakins, then became one of the artist's staunchest friends, and with whom he shared studio space. As is typical in Eakins' late portraits, he has isolated his sitter in a moment of contemplation against a neutral background. When depicting female subjects, he often drew attention to the individual's internal thoughts and gave less detailed suggestions of their costume or accessories. This method of emphasizing Miss Murray's face, creates a tension between intensely observed realism and the sketchy, bold handling of paint elsewhere in the picture.
Adapted from
- Anne Bromberg, DMA object notes (1975.1.FA), Education files, 1987.
- DMA Curatorial remarks (1975.1.FA), TMS data, n.d.
- William Keyse Rudolph, DMA label copy (1975.1.FA), May 2006.
- DMA object essay (1975.1.FA), Mayer Library artist file, n.d.
NOTES
Changed from routed to completed- 14 June 2016.
Adding "draft" tag back to note, Dec 19, 2016, as part of the revised harvest/route procedure. This note will be pulled into GDrive and manually moved to Queta's folders for final review. Update- January 18, 2017- Adding #routed tag so that I can easily keep track of this note in Evernote to confirm that it is eventually pushed into GDrive. As of January 18, 2017 the content is in Brain but not in GDrive so I am unable to finish revisions and mark it complete in Evernote or move the GDoc to Queta's folder.
Confirmed note updated in GDrive. Tagged completed and moved GDoc to Queta folder. (1/24/2017)
Future work could be done to add exhibition history to the TMS record. Currently there are no exhibitions listed in the text entry field or linked through the exhibitions module.
Complete citations for existing text entries, and add text entries for additional content found in education and Mayer library files.
Move existing curatorial remarks to text entries.
Confirm life dates (July 25, 1844 to June 25, 1916) in TMS. Add worked locations as Paris (Île-de-France, France) and Madrid (Madrid, Spain).
Removed TMS object tag because rule exists.
Teaching Ideas source- From~Ken Kelsey, Gail Davitt, Dana DeLoach, Sarah Rasich, and Troy Smythe, Colonial to Modern Art at the Dallas Museum of Art, Teaching packet (Dallas Museum of Art), 1996.
I removed the teaching ideas from this note and pasted them into a shared note for Jennie Russell to review and decide how to incorporate into online teaching resources.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
oil paint
canvas
Historical periods
Individuals
Murray_Samuel: ULAN: 500062301
Subject terms
portrait
chair
dress
pink
gaze
sitting
woman
texture
brushstroke
realism
three-quarter length
teacher
students
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
1895: Samuel Murray (1869-1941), Philadelphia, PA
From 1941: his widow, Jennie [Jane] Murray (née Kershaw), Philadelphia, PA
Before 1944: William O. Coxe, New York, NY [1]
Around 1945: Willard Litt, New York, NY [2]
nd: his brother [3]
nd: his sister-in-law [4]
nd: Private collection, New York, NY
From 1975: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, purchased from Wildenstein's, New York, NY [5] [6]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance comes from unpublished research performed by Louise Ellen Teitz, an intern at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, in September 1975 and located in the Collections Records Object File.
[1] According to correspondence between Henri Marceau and Jennie Murray, January 14, 1944.
[2] Willard Litt's life dates are unknown, but documentation suggests he died c. 1945 and the painting was passed to his brother.
[3] The name and life dates of Willard Litt's brother could not be verified.
[4] After the death of Willard Litt's brother, the painting became the property of his brother's widow, whose name and life dates also remain unverified.
[5] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
[6] The Foundation for the Arts is a non-profit corporation created as a title-holding entity to serve the people of Dallas but to operate independently of the City. The Dallas Museum of Art (at its own cost) is responsible for the care, storage, insurance, conservation and maintenance of the collection, and agrees to maintain the highest museum standards in the management and handling of the Foundation’s collection. The title to all works of art purchased or otherwise acquired by the Foundation for the Arts is retained by the Foundation.
AUDIO ASSETS
Gallery talk- American Portraiture- Martha MacLeod- 3/25/2015
Object number in Piction cataloging.
Gallery talk- American Portraiture- martha MacLeod- 8/31/2011
Object number in Piction.
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- Samuel Murray, Thomas Eakins, 1894~Check out this portrait of Eakins made by his student, Samuel Murray, who was also the brother of Gertrude Murray. (Sculpture in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.)
- Samuel Murray, Gertrude Murray, 1894~See another portrait of Gertrude Murray, the sister of Eakins's star pupil (Samuel Murray), whose bust of Gertrude conveys the same intensity of expression. (Sculpture in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.)
- Thomas Eakins, Portrait of Samuel Murray, 1889~See Eakins's portrait of the sitter's brother, in the collection of the Mitchell Museum at Cedarhurst. (Image on wikicommons.)
- Americans in Paris, 1860-1900~Read H. Barbara Weinberg's essay about this group of expatriate artists on the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- Thomas Eakins and Samuel Murray shared a studio for ten years.
- Gertrude Murray was a book-keeper and never married. Census records suggest that she lived with her brother and his wife. She likely became well-acquainted with Thomas Eakins between the time this portrait was completed in 1895 and his death in 1914.
- In addition to this likeness of Samuel Murray's sister, Thomas Eakins also completed portraits of Murray, his father, fiancé, and mother-in-law. Murray returned the affectionate gesture by sculpting portraits of Eakins, his wife (Susan Macdowell Eakins), and his father (Benjamin Eakins).
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1975.1.FA
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
After resigning as the Director of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) in 1886, Thomas Eakins concentrated on portrait and figure painting. During this period he exhibited infrequently, received few commissions, and endured unsupportive treatment from art critics. Despite these difficulties, Eakins continued his efforts to portray the psychological reality of his sitters rather than to create fashionable likenesses. He had difficulty securing commissions for portraits, partly because of his insistence on a realism not compatible with contemporary genteel values. His subjects were often friends, students, or individuals whose intellect interested the artist— such as doctors, teachers, musicians, and clergymen. Eakins portrayed his sitters with an uncompromising realism and psychological insight into character. His late portraits, especially those of women, are often pervaded with a sense of melancholy.
Miss Gertrude Murray is an uncommissioned work done by the artist out of friendship. Miss Murray was the sister of Samuel Murray (1869-1941), a Philadelphia sculptor who initially studied at PAFA under Eakins, then became one of the artist's staunchest friends, and with whom he shared studio space. As is typical in Eakins' late portraits, he has isolated his sitter in a moment of contemplation against a neutral background. When depicting female subjects, he often drew attention to the individual's internal thoughts and gave less detailed suggestions of their costume or accessories. This method of emphasizing Miss Murray's face, creates a tension between intensely observed realism and the sketchy, bold handling of paint elsewhere in the picture.
Adapted from
- Anne Bromberg, DMA object notes (1975.1.FA), Education files, 1987.
- DMA Curatorial remarks (1975.1.FA), TMS data, n.d.
- William Keyse Rudolph, DMA label copy (1975.1.FA), May 2006.
- DMA object essay (1975.1.FA), Mayer Library artist file, n.d.
Fun Facts
- Thomas Eakins and Samuel Murray shared a studio for ten years.
- Gertrude Murray was a book-keeper and never married. Census records suggest that she lived with her brother and his wife. She likely became well-acquainted with Thomas Eakins between the time this portrait was completed in 1895 and his death in 1914.
- In addition to this likeness of Samuel Murray's sister, Thomas Eakins also completed portraits of Murray, his father, fiancé, and mother-in-law. Murray returned the affectionate gesture by sculpting portraits of Eakins, his wife (Susan Macdowell Eakins), and his father (Benjamin Eakins).
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Samuel Murray, Thomas Eakins, 1894~Check out this portrait of Eakins made by his student, Samuel Murray, who was also the brother of Gertrude Murray. (Sculpture in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.)
- Samuel Murray, Gertrude Murray, 1894~See another portrait of Gertrude Murray, the sister of Eakins's star pupil (Samuel Murray), whose bust of Gertrude conveys the same intensity of expression. (Sculpture in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.)
- Thomas Eakins, Portrait of Samuel Murray, 1889~See Eakins's portrait of the sitter's brother, in the collection of the Mitchell Museum at Cedarhurst. (Image on wikicommons.)
- Americans in Paris, 1860-1900~Read H. Barbara Weinberg's essay about this group of expatriate artists on the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.
Notes
Changed from routed to completed- 14 June 2016.
Adding "draft" tag back to note, Dec 19, 2016, as part of the revised harvest/route procedure. This note will be pulled into GDrive and manually moved to Queta's folders for final review. Update- January 18, 2017- Adding #routed tag so that I can easily keep track of this note in Evernote to confirm that it is eventually pushed into GDrive. As of January 18, 2017 the content is in Brain but not in GDrive so I am unable to finish revisions and mark it complete in Evernote or move the GDoc to Queta's folder.
Confirmed note updated in GDrive. Tagged completed and moved GDoc to Queta folder. (1/24/2017)
Future work could be done to add exhibition history to the TMS record. Currently there are no exhibitions listed in the text entry field or linked through the exhibitions module.
Complete citations for existing text entries, and add text entries for additional content found in education and Mayer library files.
Move existing curatorial remarks to text entries.
Confirm life dates (July 25, 1844 to June 25, 1916) in TMS. Add worked locations as Paris (Île-de-France, France) and Madrid (Madrid, Spain).
Removed TMS object tag because rule exists.
Teaching Ideas source- From~Ken Kelsey, Gail Davitt, Dana DeLoach, Sarah Rasich, and Troy Smythe, Colonial to Modern Art at the Dallas Museum of Art, Teaching packet (Dallas Museum of Art), 1996.
I removed the teaching ideas from this note and pasted them into a shared note for Jennie Russell to review and decide how to incorporate into online teaching resources.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
oil paint
canvas
Historical periods
Individuals
Murray_Samuel: ULAN: 500062301
Subject terms
portrait
chair
dress
pink
gaze
sitting
woman
texture
brushstroke
realism
three-quarter length
teacher
students
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
1895: Samuel Murray (1869-1941), Philadelphia, PA
From 1941: his widow, Jennie [Jane] Murray (née Kershaw), Philadelphia, PA
Before 1944: William O. Coxe, New York, NY [1]
Around 1945: Willard Litt, New York, NY [2]
nd: his brother [3]
nd: his sister-in-law [4]
nd: Private collection, New York, NY
From 1975: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, purchased from Wildenstein's, New York, NY [5] [6]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance comes from unpublished research performed by Louise Ellen Teitz, an intern at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, in September 1975 and located in the Collections Records Object File.
[1] According to correspondence between Henri Marceau and Jennie Murray, January 14, 1944.
[2] Willard Litt's life dates are unknown, but documentation suggests he died c. 1945 and the painting was passed to his brother.
[3] The name and life dates of Willard Litt's brother could not be verified.
[4] After the death of Willard Litt's brother, the painting became the property of his brother's widow, whose name and life dates also remain unverified.
[5] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
[6] The Foundation for the Arts is a non-profit corporation created as a title-holding entity to serve the people of Dallas but to operate independently of the City. The Dallas Museum of Art (at its own cost) is responsible for the care, storage, insurance, conservation and maintenance of the collection, and agrees to maintain the highest museum standards in the management and handling of the Foundation’s collection. The title to all works of art purchased or otherwise acquired by the Foundation for the Arts is retained by the Foundation.
AUDIO ASSETS
Gallery talk- American Portraiture- Martha MacLeod- 3/25/2015
Object number in Piction cataloging.
Gallery talk- American Portraiture- martha MacLeod- 8/31/2011
Object number in Piction.
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1975.1.FA
source file
object_notes_3_c-0308.xml.nores