William Rush and his Model 1908

This painting was a return to a painting that Eakins had completed 30 years earlier portraying the sculptor William Rush in his studio. Thomas Eakins liked to historically document the arts and the first version of the painting was surely to bolster Rush's name in the history of American art. It is thought the the 1908 version was painted with even more emphasis on the nude model to show the hypocrisy of the artworld in it's handling of the nude form. Rush was a cofounder of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts where Eakin's had taught for many years before he was forced to resign in 1886 following controversy for allowing female students to attend life classes. The forced resignation from the Academy was an ugly and public affair which Eakin's never quite recovered from.