"Accomplished draftsman, anatomist, and artist Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) believed that the nude human body was the most beautiful object on earth - not an object of desire, but a miracle of muscle, bone, and blood. Criticized during his career for his insistence on studying and painting from the nude, Eakins is now acclaimed as one of America's greatest realist painters. Eakins believed in a naturalistic approach to art, and made no compromises with the mores of his time. Eakins became the first artist to depict the masculine (now called macho) sphere of sports, in which he portrayed unidealized young American men in ordinary attitudes and activities. His insistence on having female students draw from live male nude models led to his dismissal from his post as director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and spurred a storm of controversy that substantially hurt his career. Only toward the end of his life was his work lauded to be as significant as some of the great European Old Masters. Collected here is a stunning selection of drawings, paintings, and photographs of Eakin's males - including some previously unpublished images - that document for the first time the artist's immense skill in rendering the male form."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved