|
Duncan Phillips's interest in Eakins had crystallized by 1926, when he expressed the need for a "powerful and patient transcript of truth by Eakins." The speed with which Phillips acted in acquiring this work, however, may be partially due to the influence of a noted critic and friend, Frank Jewett Mather. Museum archives reveal that four days after Phillips learned of the possible sale of this portrait, Mather wrote to him: "I'm glad to see that your plans include such great objective painters as...Eakins. At present you are ‘long' on subjective and romantic painters." Phillips wrote to Van Buren the following day asking to see the work, and as soon as the painting arrived he included it in his February 1927 Tri-Unit exhibition, even before making Van Buren an offer.
|
