The Gross Clinic
Date: 1875 1886
Region: North America
Subject: Other Nudity
Medium: Painting
Artist: Thomas Eakins 1844 - 1916)
Confronting Bodies: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts administrators, members of the Philadelphia Sketch Club
Date of Action: 1875, 1886
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Description of Artwork: The Gross Clinic, Eakins most notable painting and arguably one of the most important paintings of the 19th century, shows a scene in an operating room. The painting gives gruesome detail, like blood on the surgeon's hands. It was called "too bold" for its "attention to facts."
The Incident: The Gross Clinic was refused entry into the American section of the Centennial Exhibition in 1875 but was allowed in the medical section where it recieved unfavorable responses from critics. Eakins earned a reputation for boldness. In 1886, while teaching at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, he was reprimanded for allowing a nude male model into a co-ed painting class. Eakins believed that male and female students should recieve identical educations. The school gave him two choices: change his teaching style, or resign.
Results of Incident: Eakins resigned from the Philadelphia Academy. He was also banned from the Philadelphia Sketch Club and fired from a position at the Drexel Institute for using a male model in a co-ed classroom.
Source: Censorship, A World Encyclopedia, ed. D. Jones [[Category:]] [[Category:]] [[Category:]] [[Category:]] [[Category:]] [[Category:]] [[Category:]] [[Category:]]