Masterpiece Story: Wrestlers by Thomas Eakins

Artistic Intentions

Born in 1844, Thomas Eakins became a key figure in American Realism. He aimed, like his fellow Realist contemporaries, to represent the world in a truthful, unembellished, and naturalistic manner. Eakins believed that scientific knowledge was a prerequisite to art because science allowed an artist to aim and capture objectivity. Therefore, he promoted this by using life models to achieve anatomical accuracy.

Like the Impressionists, Eakins desired to capture modern fleeting moments, but unlike them, Eakins desired to capture those moments in an Academic and objective style. He sought an almost documentary attitude to his subjects. Wrestlers is a superb culmination of Thomas Eakins’ artistic intentions and of his career. It also sparks undertones of homoeroticism.

General Composition

Wrestlers is an oil on canvas measuring 48 ⅜ x 60 in. (122.9 x 152.4 cm). It depicts the dark brown interior of an exercise room where five figures are engaged in different activities. The main central figures, in the foreground, are two young men lying on the floor in a “crotch hold” position. Their lithe forms twist and contort as they struggle against each other while sunlight ripples over their muscled bodies, casting shadows. A third athlete exercises on a rowing machine in the background, in the upper left corner of the painting. A fourth athlete, face unseen, stands to the right in the middle ground with his coach, whose face is also unseen. They observe and point to the two wrestlers as they discuss the challenges ahead.

Academic Style

Thomas Eakins studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris for three years under the guidance of artist Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904). In 1870, he returned to his hometown of Philadelphia to teach at the prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Both institutions were beacons of Academia and the Academic style promoted by famous artists such as Jean-Léon Gérôme, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and Lawrence Alma-Tadema.

The Academic tradition favored live observation, pencil sketching, and then oil painting its subjects. However, Thomas Eakins replaced pencil sketches with camera photographs. He was a pioneer of multiple-exposure photography with a single camera. He would freeze and capture dramatic moments, and then use his developed prints as guides for his paintings.

Photography

Wrestlers was no exception when it came to Eakins’s use of photography as a tool. When Thomas Eakins approached the subject in May 1899, he enlisted two models to wrestle and hold interesting poses. Joseph McCann, a boxer, is documented as one of the photographed models, though modern art historians are unsure which one he is. Both men are physically similar in stature and build. They are both white men, lean, muscled, and appear to be in their early twenties, with straight brown hair. Without context, they could easily be mistaken for brothers.

Homoerotica

The struggling grip of the two almost-nude wrestlers is homoerotic and could easily inspire erotic fantasies for a homosexual male viewer. Many scholarly papers and articles have been published on the uncertain sexuality of Thomas Eakins and his frequent use of male nudes within his paintings. Was Thomas Eakins a closet homosexual, or at least somewhere along the spectrum of a non-traditional sexuality?

Some viewers and writers believe Wrestlers is a visual metaphor for sexual repression and frustration. As one wrestler dominates and pins the other wrestler to the floor, there are palpable feelings of discomfort, captivity, and submission. These feelings are easily relatable to anyone who has ever felt sexually frustrated or repressed. Therefore, while homosexuality is the most obvious sexuality explored in Wrestlers, it does have the ability to speak to a larger audience.

Asexuality

Thomas Eakins frequently claimed that nude bodies did not hold any erotic interest for him. He stated that he merely used live models to capture the visual accuracy and objectivity of his subjects. Today, with a wider acceptance of the sexual spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community, the idea of asexuality is not unknown. Perhaps Eakins was asexual and did not have any sexual interest, desire, or admiration for his nude models? However, such an idea was almost impossible to comprehend in 19th-century America.

With the importation of Victorian sexual morals and the promotion of Sigmund Freud’s sexually-infused psychoanalysis, sex and sexuality were frequently on the minds of the 19th-century public. Is it not often believed that the more we deny or suppress something, the more focused and obsessive we become? Therefore, as Eakins denied having any sexuality, the more it fueled speculation on his sexuality. It is like the paradox of denying gossip. The more the victim denies the truth, the more it fans the flames of interest. The best way to kill gossip is to ignore it.

Third Athlete

In the upper left background is a third athlete. He is using a rowing machine to develop his posture and strength. In the true visual sense, he is exercising and preparing himself for the wrestling challenge ahead. In a figurative sense, he is working on building the courage to confront his sexuality within the wrestling ring. The rowing machine does not confront him as does a live competitor. However, is this stretching the sexual interpretation too far? Perhaps the viewer is simply viewing an exercise room where several young men are exercising and competing? Or perhaps it is a room filled with sexual tensions?

Fourth Athlete & Coach

In the right midground are a fourth athlete and his coach. They are represented by the lower half of their bodies. Their torsos and heads are unseen as their bodies extend beyond the edges of the canvas. Thomas Eakins has presented a photograph-like composition where subjects are not entirely captured within the frame of the shot. This style was very popular with Impressionist painters as it implied the continuity of life beyond the canvas borders. It presents the idea that the canvas is just a snapshot, a brief image of a single frame of a single moment in the expansive and time-filled world. It cements the idea of transience and brevity.

However, Eakins used this Impressionist motif but within the context of Realism. He has reframed a revolutionary idea within an Academic context. In this way, he bridges Impressionism and Academicism. He also bridges the idea that sexuality is something to reflect on and discuss with others. Perhaps the coach also represents a confidant, an ally, a friend to the LGBTQ+ community? Perhaps the athlete sees the wrestler’s homoerotica and is sexually curious? Or, could it simply be an athlete seeing the challenge ahead and seeking advice on wrestling technique?

Linking Thread

Wrestlers by Thomas Eakins is truly a culmination of the artist’s career. It was his last genre painting, his last male nude, and his last sporting image. However, as is often seen, the last product is the finest because it is the summit of previous attempts. Eakins explores the physical dimensions of bodies in anatomically different positions, but also explores the spiritual dimensions of sexualities in metaphorically different positions. To participate in wrestling, or any sport, it takes courage, spirit, and a sense of competition.

There is also a perception of sheer pleasure and action. Could these senses and feelings also apply to sexual exploration and experience? Almost everything in life is connected. Life has a curious way of connecting two apparently separate concepts by a linking thread. Therefore, sport and sexuality can be connected, and Wrestlers explores this unusual but interesting dynamic.