Taking the Count

1898 · Painting · 264.2 × 235 cm

Can I see it?

Not on view at present

Where is “Taking the Count” now? Collection: Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven. Not on view at present. Checked October 19, 2026.

Yale University Art Gallery

New Haven, United States

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked: 16 days ago
In this state since: Oct 19, 2026
Source: The museum

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About the painting

Taking the Count is an 1898 painting by American artist Thomas Eakins. It is part of the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery, in New Haven.

This depiction of a prizefight marks Eakins' return to anatomical studies of the male figure, this time in a more urban setting. Taking the Count was his second largest canvas, but not his most successful composition. The same may be said of his Wrestlers (1899). More successful was Between Rounds (1899), for which boxer Billy Smith posed seated in his corner at Philadelphia's Arena; in fact, all of principal figures in this composition were posed by models re-enacting what had been an actual boxing match.

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In the museum's words

Taking the Count celebrates Thomas Eakins’s lifelong fascination with athleticism and human endurance. A fallen fighter struggles to recover from a punishing blow, as all eyes in the crowd focus on the referee counting off the seconds that could mark the end of the match. The actual fight took place in Philadelphia on Friday, April 29, 1898, between Charley McKeever (standing) and Jack Daly and was refereed by H. Walter Schlichter. Until Eakins undertook the subject, visual representations of prize fighting had been found almost exclusively in the press and in prints. With this monumental painting, the first of Eakins's three great boxing pictures, the artist placed the theme into the context of the fine arts, a stunning statement set against the genteel conventions of the period.

Yale University Art Gallery