Details

Provenance

Mrs. Emma Jane Ward, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Babcock Galleries, New York (acquired from the above, 1930) Dr. & Mrs. T. Edward Hanley, Bradford, Pennsylvania Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York E.V. Thaw & Co., Inc., New York Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1971

Exhibited

New York, Babcock Galleries, Thomas Eakins , December-January, 1931, no. 11, illustrated New York, American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, Old & Modern Masters in the New York Art Market , March-April, 1931, p. 5 New York, MacDowell Club Exhibition, 1933 College Art Association Circulating Exhibition, 1934 San Diego, California, San Diego Museum, 1935 Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore Museum of Art, Retrospective Exhibition of Thomas Eakins , December-January, 1937, no. 14 New York, Kleeman Galleries, Important Paintings by Thomas Eakins , March 1937, no. 5 Detroit, Michigan, Institute of Arts, Eighteenth Annual Exhibition of American Art , April-May, 1937, no. 9, p. 8, illustrated New York, Grand Central Galleries, American Art Without 'isms , June-July, 1939 no. 39, p. 11 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carnegie Institute, Thomas Eakins Centenial Exhibition , April-June 1945, no. 20 Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; Chicago, Illinois, The Art Institute of Chicago; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Thomas Eakins: A Retrospective Exhibition , October 1961-March 1962, no. 51, illustrated New York, Gallery of Modern Art including the Huntington Hartford Collection; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Selections from the Collection of Dr. & Mrs. T. Edward Hanley , January-May, 1967, illustrated in color Midland, Texas, Museum of the Southwest; San Francisco, California, DeYoung Museum; Denver, Colorado, Denver Museum of Art, Hanley Collection , October-November, 1967 Columbus, Ohio, Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, The Hanley Collection , November-December, 1968, no. 16, illustrated

Literature

Malcolm Vaughn, "Neglected During Lifetime, Art of Thomas Eakins Gains New Fame in Latest Exhibition," New York American , December 14, 1930 Royal Cortissoz, "Eakins: A Good Group of His Works Early and Late," New York Tribune , December 14, 1930 Frederick W. Eddy, "Eakins Always At His Level Best," World , December 14, 1930 Ralph Flint, The Art News , December 20, 1930 Henry McBride, "Several Unfamiliar Portraits in New Collection Shown Here," Sun , December 20, 1930 Elisabeth Luther Cary, "A Long Span is Covered: Paintings from Earliest Period to Latest Extend our Knowledge of a True Giant," New York Times , December 21, 1930 Jeanne Laurent, Gotham Life , December 21, 1930 Jerome Klein, "Eakins and the Price of His Isolation," Chicago Evening Post , December 30, 1930 Peyton Boswell, "Critics Again Evaluate Art of Eakins," The Art Digest , January 1, 1931 Dr. Frank E.Washburn Freund, Boston Herald , January 4, 1931 Dr. Frank E. Washburn Freund, "More of the Works of Thomas Eakins at the Babcock Gallery," Boston Herald; Detroit Free Press, January 4, 1931 Walter Knowlton, Creative Art , January, 1931 Jeanne Laurent, Parnassus , January, 1931 H.E. Schnakenberg, The Arts , January, 1931 Edward A. Jewell, New York Times , February 12, 1932 Margaret Breuning, New York Post , February 13, 1932 Malcolm Vaughn, New York American , February 13, 1932 Royal Cortissoz, New York Tribune , February 14, 1932 Forbes Watson, Art's Weekly , March 11, 1932 Lloyd Goodrich, Thomas Eakins: His Life and Work , New York, 1933, p. 178, no. 212 Royal Cortissoz, "Another Group of Works by Eakins," New York Herald-Tribune , March 7, 1937 Fairfield Porter, Thomas Eakins , 1959, no. 35, illustrated Sylvan Schendler, Eakins , 1967, p. 121 Condition Very good condition, lined; under UV: no apparent retouching. In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE. Catalogue Note Eakins began taking anatomy classes at Jefferson Medical College in the 1870s while he was still studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.  It was during this time that he encountered Dr. John H. Brinton, a surgeon and medical authority who had joined the staff at the college after having served as General Grant's personal physician during the Civil War.  (Dr. Brinton would eventually go on to succeed one of Eakins' most famous subjects, Dr. Gross, at Jefferson.) Eakins had already painted portraits of both Dr. and Mrs. Brinton when he was commissioned in 1884 to paint Sarah Brinton's sister, Mrs. William Shaw Ward.  Mrs. Ward began her sittings with Eakins in the beginning of the year though she was not feeling well and didn't like having to climb the three or four flights of stairs to Eakins' studio.  (Mrs. William H. Ward as told to Lloyd Goodrich, New York, 1930).  Crisis struck the Ward family in May when the Wall Street investment firm of Ward and Grant, founded by William's brother Ferdinand in partnership with Ulysses S. Grant and his son, collapsed.  Forced to return to New York immediately, Mrs. Ward paid Eakins half of the original $400 commission fee and collected her unfinished portrait.  Eventually the Wards returned to Colorado where William was named Director of the Colorado Museum of Natural History and Emma was active in the fight for women's suffrage. In keeping with his late portraiture, Eakins has positioned Mrs. Ward so that her gaze is averted, and direct contact with the viewer is avoided. The loose brushwork of the background and precision of the sitter's hands and face lend considerable insight into Eakins' developmental technique in his portraits.  John Wilmerding writes "Although they do not perhaps have the same aesthetic appeal as the finished portraits, A Singer (c. 1906, The Art Museum, Princeton University) and the several other unfinished works are useful tools for inquiry into the methods of the artist.  Stroke for stroke, the unfinished painting becomes a telling story, a kind of road map of the artist's search for the two-dimensional image." ( Thomas Eakins, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1993, p. 168).   In the case of Mrs. Ward, the result is a portrait consistent with the artist's characteristic and uncompromising honesty in which the subject's humanity is both observed and intuited. This effect was not at all lost on the critics who viewed Mrs. Ward's portrait when it was

Catalog summary

Thomas Eakins Mrs. William Shaw Ward oil on canvas 40 1/4 by 30 in. (102.2 by 76.2 cm) Painted in 1884. Provenance Mrs. Emma Jane Ward, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Babcock Galleries, New York (acquired from the above, 1930) Dr. & Mrs. T. Edward Hanley, Bradford, Pennsylvania Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York E.V. Thaw & Co., Inc., New York Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1971 Exhibited New York, Babcock Galleries, Thomas Eakins , December-January, 1931, no. 11, illustrated New York, American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, Old & Modern Masters in the New York Art Market , March-April, 1931, p. 5 New York, MacDowell Club Exhibition, 1933 College Art Association Circulating Exhibition, 1934 San Diego, California, San Diego Museum, 1935 Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore Museum of Art, Retrospective Exhibition of Thomas Eakins , December-January, 1937, no. 14 New York, Kleeman Galleries, Important Paintings by Thomas Eakins , March 1937, no. 5 Detroit, Michigan, Institute of Arts, Eighteenth Annual Exhibition of American Art , April-May, 1937, no. 9, p. 8, illustrated New York, Grand Central Galleries, American Art Without 'isms , June-July, 1939 no. 39, p. 11 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carnegie Institute, Thomas Eakins Centenial Exhibition , April-June 1945, no. 20 Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; Chicago, Illinois, The Art Institute of Chicago; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Thomas Eakins: A Retrospective Exhibition , October 1961-March 1962, no. 51, illustrated New York, Gallery of Modern Art including the Huntington Hartford Collection; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Selections from the Collection of Dr. & Mrs. T. Edward Hanley , January-May, 1967, illustrated in color Midland, Texas, Museum of the Southwest; San Francisco, California, DeYoung Museum; Denver, Colorado, Denver Museum of Art, Hanley Collection , October-November, 1967 Columbus, Ohio, Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, The Hanley Collection , November-December, 1968, no. 16, illustrated Literature Malcolm Vaughn, "Neglected During Lifetime, Art of Thomas Eakins Gains New Fame in Latest Exhibition," New York American , December 14, 1930 Royal Cortissoz, "Eakins: A Good Group of His Works Early and Late," New York Tribune , December 14, 1930 Frederick W. Eddy, "Eakins Always At His Level Best," World , December 14, 1930 Ralph Flint, The Art News , December 20, 1930 Henry McBride, "Several Unfamiliar Portraits in New Collection Shown Here," Sun , December 20, 1930 Elisabeth Luther Cary, "A Long Span is Covered: Paintings from Earliest Period to Latest Extend our Knowledge of a True Giant," New York Times , December 21, 1930 Jeanne Laurent, Gotham Life , December 21, 1930 Jerome Klein, "Eakins and the Price of His Isolation," Chicago Evening Post , December 30, 1930 Peyton Boswell, "Critics Again Evaluate Art of Eakins," The Art Digest , January 1, 1931 Dr. Frank E.Washburn Freund, Boston Herald , January 4, 1931 Dr. Frank E. Washburn Freund, "More of the Works of Thomas Eakins at the Babcock Gallery," Boston Herald; Detroit Free Press, January 4, 1931 Walter Knowlton, Creative Art , January, 1931 Jeanne Laurent, Parnassus , January, 1931 H.E. Schnakenberg, The Arts , January, 1931 Edward A. Jewell, New York Times , February 12, 1932 Margaret Breuning, New York Post , February 13, 1932 Malcolm Vaughn, New York American , February 13, 1932 Royal Cortissoz, New York Tribune , February 14, 1932 Forbes Watson, Art's Weekly , March 11, 1932 Lloyd Goodrich, Thomas Eakins: His Life and Work , New York, 1933, p. 178, no. 212 Royal Cortissoz, "Another Group of Works by Eakins," New York Herald-Tribune , March 7, 1937 Fairfield Porter, Thomas Eakins , 1959, no. 35, illustrated Sylvan Schendler, Eakins , 1967, p. 121 Condition Very good condition, lined; under UV: no apparent retouching. In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE. Catalogue Note Eakins began taking anatomy classes at Jefferson Medical College in the 1870s while he was still studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.  It was during this time that he encountered Dr. John H. Brinton, a surgeon and medical authority who had joined the staff at the college after having served as General Grant's personal physician during the Civil War.  (Dr. Brinton would eventually go on to succeed one of Eakins' most famous subjects, Dr. Gross, at Jefferson.) Eakins had already painted portraits of both Dr. and Mrs. Brinton when he was commissioned in 1884 to paint Sarah Brinton's sister, Mrs. William Shaw Ward.  Mrs. Ward began her sittings with Eakins in the beginning of the year though she was not feeling well and didn't like having to climb the three or four flights of stairs to Eakins' studio.  (Mrs. William H. Ward as told to Lloyd Goodrich, New York, 1930).  Crisis struck the Ward family in May when the Wall Street investment firm of Ward and Grant, founded by William's brother Ferdinand in partnership with Ulysses S. Grant and his son, collapsed.  Forced to return to New York immediately, Mrs. Ward paid Eakins half of the original $400 commission fee and collected her unfinished portrait.  Eventually the Wards returned to Colorado where William was named Director of the Colorado Museum of Natural History and Emma was active in the fight for women's suffrage. In keeping with his late portraiture, Eakins has positioned Mrs. Ward so that her gaze is averted, and direct contact with the viewer is avoided. The loose brushwork of the background and precision of the sitter's hands and face lend considerable insight into Eakins' developmental technique in his portraits.  John Wilmerding writes "Although they do not perhaps have the same aesthetic appeal as the finished portraits, A Singer (c. 1906, The Art Museum, Princeton University) and the several other unfinished works are useful tools for inquiry into the methods of the artist.  Stroke for stroke, the unfinished painting becomes a telling story, a kind of road map of the artist's search for the two-dimensional image." ( Thomas Eakins, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1993, p. 168).   In the case of Mrs. Ward, the result is a portrait consistent with the artist's characteristic and uncompromising honesty in which the subject's humanity is both observed and intuited. This effect was not at all lost on the critics who viewed Mrs. Ward's portrait when it was exhibited at the Babcock Galleries in 1930.  H. E. Schnackenberg commented in the January 1931 issue of The Arts : "Among the portraits there are two of supreme interest, those of Mrs. William Shaw Ward and of a Young Woman.  The former has a human grandeur that is compelling, a placid fullness that makes it one of Eakins' truly great pictures." Writing on March 7 th , 1937 for the New York Herald Tribune , Royal Cortissoz remarked: "With what knowledge and with what a fine precision did Eakins draw! What a force was there in his brushstroke! For an especially persuasive example consider ' Mrs. William Shaw Ward' , dating from as far back as 1884 but possessing to this day a wonderful freshness, a wonderful vitality."