Art Institute of Chicago

Riter Fitzgerald

Thomas Eakins (American, 1844–1916)

Date

1895

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

Philadelphia

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Riter Fitzgerald—the art, music, and literary critic for the Philadelphia Evening Item —championed Thomas Eakins’s work and publicly defended the artist when his teaching methods proved controversial. Eakins’s portrait of the journalist is informed by Fitzgerald’s open-minded opinions, his appreciation of diverse art forms, and his commitment to intellectual life. Comfortably seated in his book-lined library, Fitzgerald is portrayed as a genteel man who enjoys a leisurely, yet contemplative lifestyle. With an open book in his lap, he thoughtfully gazes into the distance, peacefully lost in the realm of ideas.

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