Thomas Eakins
Portrait of John B. Gest

ArtistAmerican, 1844–1916
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Portrait of John B. Gest
Date1905
PlacePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions40 × 30 in. (101.6 × 76.2 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Agnes Cullen Arnold Endowment Fund
Object number91.62
Non exposé

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Department
American Art
Object Type
Description

Thomas Eakins’s late portraits, which include this powerful likeness, are among the artist’s most poignant works. Here, Eakins focuses upon the two elements of portraiture traditionally deemed most important: heads and hands. The piercing gaze and the taut, sinewy hands of the aging subject carry the emotional weight of the painting and testify to Eakins’s life-long commitment to portraying the human condition in all its heroism and frailty.


Commissioned from Eakins by the Fidelity Trust Company for $700, this portrait of Fidelity’s president, John B. Gest, has little to do with what one might think of as corporate portraiture: bland, formulaic images of seated, appropriately attired men intended to portray serious-minded, upstanding members of the community. Indeed, Gest performed the role to a T, serving as a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia, in addition to fulfilling his duties at the financial company he served. However, by turning Gest’s gaze away from the viewer, Eakins turns any possible engagement with the sitter into a study and an observation of the visible effects of old age. This portrait reveals the artist’s intense devotion to realism through its truthful accuracy and penetrating portrayal of the subject's character.


Provenance Research Ongoing Exhibition HistoryCommissioned by the Fidelity Trust Co., Philadelphia, PA, 1905-1991.
Sold through Hirschl & Adler Gallery, New York, to the Museum, March 18, 1991.
Exhibited in "One Hundred and First Annual Exhibition, 1906," at The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 1906.
Exhibited in "Loan Exhibition of the Works of Thomas Eakins," at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1917. Catalogue, p. 12, No. 52 (illus.).
Exhibited in "Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the Late Thomas Eakins," at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 1917-18, Cat. p. 89, no. 72 (np illus).
Exhibited in "The Philadelphia Lawyer," at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, July 19, 1968 to Sep. 15, 1968.
Exhibited in "Counterpoint: Two Centuries of American Masters," at Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, 1990. Catalogue: pages 30-31, no. 15, illus. in color.

"American Made: 250 Years of American Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 7 July 2012 - 2 January 2013.

Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Lower left corner, obverse: "EAKINS 1905"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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