The Iconography in the Work The Clinic of Dr. Gross by Thomas Eakins Term Paper

The Iconography in the Work The Clinic of Dr. Gross by Thomas Eakins - Term Paper Example This social divide may have been typical of many societies throughout history that it is sometimes ironic that the products of this opposite side are â€Å"honored†, collected, or soon appreciated by the prevailing side (politically and economically well-off). With this premise, this paper will try to determine the representation of The Clinic of Dr. Gross. But prior to a full understanding of any artist’s work, it is important to comprehend the artist: or at least an overview of his life, his art work themes, passion, and others that may shed light to any perceived mystery or message that might be conveyed in a certain work. This is applicable to Thomas Eakins’ The Clinic of Dr. Gross. Thomas Eakins Eakins is one of the more important American realist painters who was also an avid photographer and innovator in the field of photography. In addition, he was also a passionate educator who rose from being a volunteer in 1876 to director by 1882 in Pennsylvania Acade my (Foster, 102). In his paintings, Eakins used Philadelphia personalities as his subjects and he has focused on the human figure moving, the anatomy of human and animal body as depicted in his commissioned work with William Rudolf O’Donovan in 1893 to 1894 that created the Lincoln and Grant bronze sculptures in Brooklyn, New York (Goodrich, 282). Eakins is known to have finished hundreds of paintings and his subjects depicted his friends, family, and people known to him. He has been described by Goodrich as the most profound and strongest realist in his time and maybe, beyond (Goodrich, 283). In the words of Kimmelman (P 5), Eakins’ work: is bound up with our national identity as much as any other American artists’, to the point that it remains nearly impossible to see America, or at least to look back on the country in the 19th-century, without some refraction through his art (1). Eakins painted nude men swimming, rowers, sailors, baseball players, his student s, himself, professors, sitters, models and artists, boxers, wrestlers, and more (Simpsons, 28). While most of his active life as an artist showed a difficult appreciation by the public, Eakins was recognized starting in 1902 when he was made National Academician. His wife Susan Macdowell Eakins, also an artist, had been cooperative and provided much of Eakins’ paintings to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Goodrich, 283). The Clinic of Dr. Gross For a modern viewer and un-initiated, the painting, a large 96 inches by seventy eight inches, depicts a theater, probably spherical because behind was the audience, and yet, the painter’s perspective was at the front. There in the middle was the main subject in his coat; much the same like the others. His erect body posture exudes confidence and power, while all about him, the men of the same dark colored outfits attend to their business, except for one who has a fro ck and dress but also of the same dark garment, whose face was turned, her hand and fingers clawed as if to defy pain. The audiences on the background were either attentive or sleepy, but there was one who seems to be busy taking down notes. With the bloodied hands, the exposed flesh, and the medical instruments on the foreground, one will conclude