The Eakins Legacy and Secret Life

There is a legacy that Thomas Eakins fans should know about and it involves the secret life of Thomas Eakins. In this Portrait of Susan Macdowell Eakins (the wife of the artist), Eakins reveals his trademark approach to the face, one which leaves no stone unturned, so to speak. He has the gumption to make her eyes flash at the viewer with a subdued and hidden horror at what they have seen and what they conceal. But who knows what Eakins was really thinking as he did this painting. Look at her shirt and at how closely it covers her neck. He did not want anything revealed! It was all a secret, a dark secret.