Post 2

            Nineteenth century America burgeoned with the energy that only a newly freed nation can muster. It was the birthplace of many new things, incredible ideas, and one-of-a-kind people. Two of these memorable Americans are artists Mary Cassatt and Thomas Eakins. Although artists with disparate styles and subject matters, Cassatt and Eakins interestingly had similar backgrounds. Both natives of Pennsylvania and students of the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art, these artists left their American homeland to pursue their love of art in France. In Paris, Cassatt and Eakins explored themes of gender and gender roles amidst a larger cultural sense of tension and opposition.

            Cassatt is renowned for her depictions of women as autonomous subjects in her art, a reflection of her own feminist voice. The interesting thing about her female subjects is their total disregard and rejection of the male gaze, making them independent in a two-dimensional form and implying independence in real life as well. This is self-evident in Cassatt’s FiveO’Clock Tea; in this work, the female subjects exist outside of the male context.

            Eakins depiction of men and women was also very interesting. His focus on the male form showed a fascination for boyhood and masculinity; in juxtaposition, his renditions of women make them seem much more lackluster and almost unimportant. However, this is inferred based upon his fixation with painting young male nudes. Swimming Hole illustrates the focus of paintings. These paintings convey the message of freedom and nature unexplored, themes that illustrate the state of America at this time.

            These two artists existed within different art movements. Although contemporaries, Mary Cassatt’s work was undeniably Impressionist. Her brushstrokes were generous though delicate; her canvases were often bathed in a soft light with no pure black. Eakins’ work bordered on Realism; his works explored the sublime qualities of the male nude and showed America’s wilderness with a sharp and crisp technique. In fact, these two artists were nearly opposites; virtually, one of the few similarities they had was painting the male and female in novel ways.

            Essentially, these artists were innovators in their depictions of their respective genders. Mary Cassatt took women and the expression of gender to another level in her art, provoking a dialogue about female independence from men. She found her niche in Impressionism despite her origins in Pennsylvania. Likewise, Eakins took the adoration of the male form from its typical Classical context and redefined it during the Impressionist era, using America as a foundation for his themes of freedom. Perhaps for the first time, we see gender and gender roles redefined in art.

Thomas Eakins. The Swimming Hole. 1844-45. Impressionist.