Susan Macdowell Eakins

Susan Hannah Eakins (née Macdowell; September 21, 1851 – December 27, 1938) was an American painter and photographer. Her works were first shown at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where she was a student. She won the Mary Smith Prize there in 1879 and the Charles Toppan prize in 1882.

One of her teachers was the artist Thomas Eakins, who later became her husband. She made portrait and still life paintings. She was also known for her photography.

After her husband died in 1916, Eakins became a prolific painter. Her works were exhibited in group exhibitions in her lifetime, though her first solo exhibition was held after she died.

Early life

She was the fifth of eight children of William H. Macdowell, a Philadelphia engraver and photographer, who also a skilled painter. He passed on to his three sons and five daughters his interest in Thomas Paine and freethought. Both Susan and her sister, Elizabeth, displayed early interest in art, which was encouraged by their father. Susan was given an attic studio for her artwork. Aside from her artistic talents, she was also a proficient pianist.

Education

She was 25 when she met Thomas Eakins at the Hazeltine Gallery where his painting The Gross Clinic was being exhibited in 1876. It was also shown at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition.

Unlike many, she was impressed by the controversial painting and she decided to study with him at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, which she attended for six years. At that time Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts was considered the best art school in the United States. Before she studied with Eakins, she studied with Christian Schussele. Under Eakins, she adopted a style similar to her teacher's. She was the winner of the first Mary Smith Prize in 1879 for Portrait of a Gentleman and Dog.