Exhibition
Portrait of Professor Benjamin H. Rand by Thomas Eakins
Portrait of Professor Benjamin H. Rand, 1874 Thomas Eakins, American 1844–1916 Oil on canvas Courtesy Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
When
May 17, 2007 – May 3, 2010
Where
Gallery 111, first floor
Tickets
About
The first in a celebrated series by Thomas Eakins to focus on physicians and scientists, this magnificent portrait is on loan from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. It is being shown at the Museum in context with major works by Eakins and his contemporaries, including Cecilia Beaux, Thomas Moran, and Henry Ossawa Tanner.
Eakins (1844–1916) portrayed the popular Jefferson Medical College professor lost in concentration at his desk, which is shown cluttered both with objects of science and academia and those of domestic life. Absently stroking his pet cat, Rand is poised between the world of intellectual endeavor and the comforts of home. The portrait earned Eakins a place at the Philadelphia Centennial's (1876) international art exhibition, where it won critical acclaim.
Curators
Kathleen Foster • The Robert L. McNeil, Jr., Senior Curator of American Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art