Man Made: Thomas Eakins and the Construction of Gilded Age Manhood (Men and Masculinity)

Category: Books,Politics & Social Sciences,Social Sciences

Man Made: Thomas Eakins and the Construction of Gilded Age Manhood (Men and Masculinity) Details

From the Inside Flap "Berger's original readings provide altogether new and compelling ways to understand some of Eakins's most well-known paintings."—Alexander Nemerov, Stanford University "This book is most interesting. Berger rereads a number of Eakins's paintings and makes use of recent investigations about the meaning of manhood in the nineteenth century. Man Made casts much of Eakins's life and work into new light."—Elizabeth Johns, author of Thomas Eakins: The Heroism of Modern Life "During the last decade, Martin Berger has been the most perceptive and sophisticated critic of masculinity in nineteenth-century American art. With this book he consolidates that analysis triumphantly--and extends its implications, first into a consideration of all of Eakins's oeuvre, and then into related discourses of sexuality, domesticity, and race. Man Made has useful things to say to scholars in all fields of American culture. In addition, it now becomes the most interesting book on Eakins since Elizabeth Johns's groundbreaking work, Thomas Eakins: The Heroism of Modern Life, first published nearly twenty years ago."—Bruce Robertson, University of California, Santa Barbara Read more About the Author Martin Berger teaches Art History and English at SUNY, Buffalo. Read more

Reviews

Thomas Eakins (1844 - 1916) is generally considered to be one of the greatest American artists who ever lived. His works continue to circulate in museum shows, separated into venues that feature portraiture, the American view of Europe, the at of medicine and the art of sports - a spread of interests not matched by any other painter from his time. There have been many books written about the various aspects of Eakins - his insistence on using the nude model in this classes that were for both men and women and the scandals that inclination produced, his involvement with photography, his fascination with the photographic explorations of man in motion of Eadweard Muybridge, his bold use of the male nude in his paintings that were viewed by a rigid Victorian audience, the question of his sexuality, etc.In this very brief and immensely readable book, MAN MADE: THOMAS EAKINS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF GILDED AGE MANHOOD, author Martin Berger takes on the stance that Eakins was a forerunner of the change in perception of the American male. It is not original thought but rather a distillation of ideas that many other historian and art critics have explored. That Eakins included African American men in his paintings as simply part of the image he was observing and preserving through paint on canvas. Some critics have stated that 'Martin Berger has been the most perceptive and sophisticated critic of masculinity in nineteenth-century American art. With this book he consolidates that analysis triumphantly--and extends its implications, first into a consideration of all of Eakins's oeuvre, and then into related discourses of sexuality, domesticity, and race. MAN MADE has useful things to say to scholars in all fields of American culture.'The book is strong and will be one that all those who deeply admire the art of Thomas Eakins will want to own. That it is the definitive discussion remains to be seen. Grady Harp, July 11

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