Literature Network » Walt Whitman

Novelist Allan Gurganus reflects on Portrait of Walt Whitman by Thomas Eakins.(Point of Departure)

Content courtesy of

From: American Scholar
Date: 20080322
Author:Gurganus, Allan

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Walt Whitman, claiming to contain multitudes, trusted his first impressions. These tended to be generous. But Thomas Eakins, come to call at Whitman's simple Camden home, struck the poet as "careless, negligent, indifferent, quiet." The painter nonetheless returned, this time with "a canvas under his arm." Whitman wryly noted that Eakins "understood I was willing he should paint me." During this visit the aged Walt seemed amused by such bullyboy presumption. Eakins, 45 in 1887, had just been fired from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts after ...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Other Articles on Walt Whitman

About Our Articles: We've partnered with Highbeam Research to provide these article excerpts for your research needs. However, due to copyright laws, we cannot publish the whole article. To view these articles in full length you'll need to use the link above to access the free trial at Highbeam.