Thomas Eakins Quotes

The big artist .. . keeps a sharp eye on Nature and steals her tools.

I have never discovered that the nude could be studied in any way except the way I have adopted. All the muscles must be pointed out. To do this all the drapery must be removed.

No man, and least of all myself, could ever disentangle the feelings that animated him.

How beautiful an old woman's skin is! All those wrinkles!

Enthusiasm for one's goal lessens the disagreeableness of working toward it.

I once painted a concert singer and on the chestnut frame I carved the opening bars of Mendelssohn's Rest in the Lord. It was ornamental unobtrusive and to musicians I think it emphasized the expression of the face and pose of the figure.

I taught in the Academy from the opening of the schools until I was turned out, a period much longer than I should have permitted myself to remain there. My honors are misunderstanding, persecution and neglect, enhanced because unsought.

My honors are misunderstanding, pesecution and neglect, enhanced because unsought.

When you first commence painting everything is a muddle. Even the commonest colors seem to have the devil in them.

The brush is a more powerful and rapid tool than the point or the stump... the main thing that the brush secures is the instant grasp of the grand construction of a figure.

Strain your brain more than your eye... You can copy a thing to a certain limit. Then you must use intellect.