Thomas EakinsAmerican, 1844–1916Crowell Children at Avondale
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Crowell Children at Avondale” now? Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Cleveland, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
Thomas Eakins's awareness of photography as a visual aid for painters preceded his own interest in making photographs, which began in the early 1880s. He fully expressed his pioneering, personal, and aesthetic style of photography in this rare image of two young boys in an outdoor setting. Here, Eakins positioned his nephews against a muscular tree trunk, which asymmetrically divides the composition. He made the short exposure in diffuse outdoor lighting, a condition he favored. Soft shadows allowed for a subtle rendering of the ordinary scene, marked by casual posture, dress, and setting. An early practitioner of the platinum process, Eakins was instinctively drawn to its slight gradations and gentle continuities of tone. Broad areas of light and shade allowed him to ignore specific details in order to render the universal qualities he discovered through close observation of his chosen subject matter.
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Details
- Accession number
- 2002.49
In the catalog
Sources
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Image: The Cleveland Museum of Art — Museum open access
In the life of Thomas Eakins
The whole life1870–1916 · Workplace
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.
