
The Chaperone
1908 · oil on canvas
overall: 46.3 x 36.2 cm (18 1/4 x 14 1/4 in.)
framed: 63.5 x 53.3 x 8.3 cm (25 x 21 x 3 1/4 in.)
National Gallery of Art

Thomas Eakins painted portraits and scenes of American life with an unflinching commitment to anatomical accuracy and psychological observation. A Philadelphia-based realist working in the late 19th century, he employed photography as a tool for studying human form and motion, and taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where his rigorous methods shaped generations of American painters. His portraits, often of prominent physicians and intellectuals, combine surgical precision with a somber, searching quality that resists sentimentality.
Source: Artist Index · Trust score: 35% · Updated 2mo ago