Philadelphia Museum of Art - Information : Press Room : Press Releases : 2007

January 4th, 2007

Media Advisory: An Eakins New Year in Philadelphia

The Gross Clinic to go on view at Philadelphia Museum of Art, followed by Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Fundraising momentum continues

WHAT:
In support of the fundraising efforts of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the board of trustees of Thomas Jefferson University is lending The Gross Clinic, Eakins’ 1875 masterpiece, to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for a special installation in advance of the conclusion of the sale on January 31.

WHERE:
Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th Street and Ben Franklin Parkway. The canvas that has sparked a nationwide campaign to keep it in Philadelphia goes on public view in the Colket Gallery (151), adjacent to the Great Stair Hall.

WHEN:
On Friday, January 5, 2007, at 4 p.m.

WHO:
Kathleen Foster, Museum’s Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Curator of American Art
Lynn Marsden-Atlass, Senior Curator, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Museum visitors admiring the painting

DETAILS:
The Gross Clinic will occupy the gallery along with a portrait of Eakins by his wife, Susan Hannah Macdowell; she gave her collection to the Museum in 1929. An oil sketch for The Gross Clinic by Eakins will also be on view. Painting will remain on view at Museum until early spring, when it moves to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the nation’s oldest arts institution. The two institutions will share equally in its ownership.

Campaign to keep the painting in Philadelphia continues.

To help, give to the Fund for Eakins’ Masterpiece. Make a tax deductible contribution online at www.philamuseum.org/keepeakins, or mail a check made payable to Fund for Eakins’ Masterpiece and send it to Fund for Eakins’ Masterpiece, c/o Philadelphia Museum of Art, P.O. Box 7646, Philadelphia, PA 19101-7646. The Fund for Eakins’ Masterpiece HOTLINE is reachable by calling 215-684-7762.

CONTACT:
Norman Keyes, Philadelphia Museum of Art /215-684-7862; nkeyes@philamuseum.org
Dominic Mercier, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts/ 215-972-2031; DMercier@pafa.org
Jackie Kozloski, Thomas Jefferson University/ 215-955-5296; Jackie.kozloski@jefferson.edu

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest museums in the United States, with a collection of more than 227,000 works of art and more than 200 galleries presenting painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography, decorative arts, textiles, and architectural settings from Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Its facilities include its landmark Main Building on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the Perelman Building, located nearby on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Rodin Museum on the 2200 block of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and two 18th-century houses in Fairmount Park, Mount Pleasant and Cedar Grove. The Museum offers a wide variety of activities for public audiences, including special exhibitions, programs for children and families, lectures, concerts and films.

For additional information, contact the Marketing and Communications Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art at (215) 684-7860. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 26th Street. For general information, call (215) 763-8100, or visit the Museum's website at www.philamuseum.org.