American Art Collaborative

This painting—like almost all of Eakins’ portraits—is an uncommissioned work done by the artist out of friendship. Gertrude Murray was the sister of Samuel Murray, a younger Philadelphia sculptor who was one of the artist’s staunchest friends and with whom he shared studio space. As is typical in his extraordinarily moving late portraits, Eakins has isolated his sitter against a neutral background, showing her absorbed in thought. He sets up a tension between his sketchy, bold handling of paint and his intensely observed realism.