Thomas Eakins, William Rush Carving his Allegorical Figure of the Schuykill River (1877)

Jean-Leon Gerome: Selling Slaves in Rome (1867)

The Story of Pygmalion and Galatea (circa 1890)

Phrynne Before the Aereopagus 1861






Thomas Eakins
Study of a Seated Nude Woman Wearing Mask, c. 1865-66 





Gerome is a technically brilliant but banal story-teller, Eakins is a profoundly seeking artist,
whose search represents at the same time a different level of human insight.

--Art History without Value Judgements: Some Recent Appraisals of 19th Century Art

Author: Alfred Neumeyer

In the case of Gerome's Chessplayers compared to
Eakins' painting of the same subject Ackerman again
comes to the conclusion that "It is almost the same . ."
(p. 243). For identical reasons as in the previous examples
Eakins' picture is, however, just the opposite-a com-
pletely integrated oneness of content and form in an or-
ganized whole.

To see Gerome reincluded in our picture of the 19th
century is historically desirable but his work must be
measured against that of an Ingres of a Meissonier and
only then can his place become clear. His compositions
usefully can be compared to an Eakins but at closer ex-
amination the superficial likeness reveal the deeper
differences of character and style.