Thomas EakinsAmerican, 1844–1916The Biglin Brothers Turning the Stake
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “The Biglin Brothers Turning the Stake” now? The Cleveland Museum of Art, 207 American Realism, Cleveland. Yes, on view now. Checked October 12, 2026.
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
Eakins's painting celebrates athletic teamwork while commemorating an actual event, a famous rowing race that took place on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia during May 1872. Throngs of spectators line the riverbank and watch as Barney and John Biglin negotiate the tricky turn around a stake marking the halfway point in the contest. Their competitors, seen in the middle distance at the right, lag behind. The Biglin brothers won the race, cementing their status as the most celebrated oarsmen of the era. Trained in the United States and France, Eakins spent almost his entire artistic career in his hometown of Philadelphia. He is renowned for the unsentimental realism in his paintings, whose compositions he developed through painstakingly prepared figure and perspective drawings.
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Details
- Accession number
- 1927.1984
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
1874
Engaged to Kathrin Crowell
Eakins became engaged to Kathrin Crowell, the sitter of his first large portrait; the engagement lasted five years, until her death.
1875
Meets Susan Macdowell
At the Hazeltine Gallery, where “The Gross Clinic” was on show, Eakins met the 25-year-old Susan Macdowell, daughter of a Philadelphia engraver. Unlike many, she was impressed by the painting and went to study with him at the Academy for six years, winning the Mary Smith Prize for the best painting by a woman student.
