Aunt Eliza Cowperthwait

1870–1916 · Virkested

Philadelphia

1883

Brings Eadweard Muybridge to lecture at the Academy

In the late 1870s Eakins had discovered Eadweard Muybridge's photographic motion studies, especially those of horses; in 1883 he and the University of Pennsylvania trustee Fairman Rogers arranged for Muybridge to lecture at the Academy.

1884

Marries Susan Macdowell

At 40, Eakins married his former pupil, the painter Susan Hannah Macdowell. In their childless marriage she painted only sporadically, supporting her husband's career, shared his passion for photography and stood by him in his difficult years, even when some of her family turned against him.

1884

Works alongside Muybridge

Eakins briefly worked alongside Muybridge in the latter's photographic studio at 36th and Pine streets, then developed his own technique: instead of a battery of cameras, a single camera making a series of exposures on one negative, to measure motion precisely for painting.

1886

Forced out of the Academy over a nude model

Eakins was forced to resign after removing the loincloth of a male model in a class where female students were present. It was a major setback: his family split, his in-laws sided against him in public, he fought rumours and suffered bouts of ill health, and the drawing manual he had written remained unfinished and unpublished in his lifetime.

1886

Students follow him to the Art Students' League

A number of students broke with the Academy and formed the Art Students' League of Philadelphia (1886–1893), where Eakins taught. There he met the student Samuel Murray, later a sculptor, his protégé and lifelong friend and, in his last years, his constant companion in boxing and bicycling.