Sketch for Seventy Years Ago

Dateprobably 1877

Maker Thomas Eakins Born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1844; died Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1916

Label TextEakins began his creations by quickly sketching out a subject as he envisioned it in his mind’s eye. For this artist, the most creative moments were those that took place in his imagination. The idea for this historical subject from America’s colonial past began to take shape around 1876, the country’s centennial year. The grandmother image represented a living connection to the country’s past. Eakins treated the subject in a group of paintings and also in one of his most important relief sculptures, a work he titled Knitting—a plaster cast of the sculpture was generously donated to the museum.

Object number2006.138

ProvenanceThe artist and his widow, Susan Macdowell Eakins (1851-1938), Philadelphia; presented to the artist's student, Charles Bregler (1865-1958), Philadelphia, 1916-after 1939; private collection, Virginia and Florida; by bequest to donor

Photo CreditPhoto: Elizabeth Mann

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Seattle Art Museum, SAM at 75: Building a Collection for Seattle, May 5-Sept. 9, 2007. No catalogue.Published ReferencesGoodrich, Lloyd. Thomas Eakins: His Life and Work (New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1933), no.115, p. 171. cf. Goodrich, Lloyd. Thomas Eakins. 2 vols. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press for the National Gallery of Art, 1982; vol. I, p. 151.

Credit LineGift of an anonymous donor

Dimensions12 1/8 x 9 3/8 in. x 1/4 (with strainer, 7/8 in thick)

MediumOil on canvas mounted on composite board and wood strainer