Old Fashioned Dress

Born in Philadelphia, the daughter of an engraver and photographer, Macdowell Eakins attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts where she studied with German-born Christian Schussele and Thomas Eakins. She became one of Eakins' most talented students, adopting his tonal approach to naturalism and interest in photography. An accomplished artist, she was awarded the Mary Smith Prize in 1879 and the Charles Toppan Prize in 1882 at the Academy. She and Eakins married in 1884, and for the next thirty years, she supported his career, setting aside her own artistic pursuits.

The Old Fashioned Dress shows the influence of Eakins on her works during this period of the 1880s in the modeling of the main figure and the tonal background. The artist included delicate details in the unidentified sitter’s dress as well as the peacock fan in her hand and still life elements on the tabletop. The use of blue throughout – the shawl, fan, rug, and chair in the background – tie the scene together and act as harmonious highlights against the neutral tones of the room.