Without doubt, Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) is one of the most important American painters of the 19th and 20th century, whose name is now a highly topical subject after the acquisition of two of his most important paintings by two different American foundations.

 

First of all, the city of Philadelphia have finally succeeded in keeping one of Eakins masterpieces -"The Gross clinic"- in the city, after raising the $68 million that the National Gallery of Washington and the new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art had paid for the famous picture, previously owned by the Thomas Jefferson University. The painting will be exhibited in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and then in the Pennsylvania Academy . You can read theArtWolf's article informing about this previous sale in this link.

 

Last December 21, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has announced the acquisition of other important work by Eakins, "Wrestlers" (1899), described by the museum as one of the most important acquisitions in the LACMA history.