The Thinker: Portrait of Louis N. Kenton
1900
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
82 x 42 in. (208.3 x 106.7 cm)
Classification
Painting
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1917
Accession Number
17.172
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Eakins' *The Thinker: Portrait Louis N. Kenton (1900) captures the Philadelphia surgeon in a moment of deep contemplation, evoking Auguste Rodin's famous sculpture of the same name. Painted in oil on canvas at an imposing 82 x 42 inches, this monumental portrait exemplifies Eakins' mastery of American Realism. Late in his career, after controversies over his bold anatomical studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Eins turned to intimate yet psychologically penetrating portraits of intellectuals and professionals like Kenton, blending scientific precision with emotional dep...
About the Artist
Thomas Eakins · 1844–1916
Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) was an American painter, photographer, and educator who carried 19th-century American Realism to its highest achievement. Based in Philadelphia throughout his life, he created uncompromising portraits and genre scenes that depicted American life with a scientific precision and psychological depth unprecedented in his time. Born into an educated Philadelphia family, Eakin...