Thomas Eakins (American, 1844-1916). <em>Letitia Wilson Jordan</em>, 1888. Oil on canvas, 59 15/16 x 40 3/16 in. (152.3 x 102 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 27.50 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 27.50_SL1.jpg)

Thomas Eakins (American, 1844-1916). Letitia Wilson Jordan, 1888. Oil on canvas, 59 15/16 x 40 3/16 in. (152.3 x 102 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 27.50 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 27.50_SL1.jpg)

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Can you give me more info on Letitia Jordan?

Jordan was the sister of a painter who was one of Eakins' students. She married a Connecticut clergyman named Leonard Woolsey Bacon. Eakins was so taken by her at a social gathering that he insisted he had to paint her. She is dressed in typical fashion for the 1880’s, wearing a sleeveless black evening gown and bright red choker, an accessory popularized by Alexandra, Princess of Wales.

Letitia Wilson Jordan

Thomas Eakins

American Art

On View: American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Visions and Myths of a Nation, 1800–1890

Letitia Wilson Jordan was the sister of Thomas Eakins’s friend and student David Wilson Jordan. Eakins had seen her at a party and was so taken with the young woman that he asked her to pose for him in the same outfit she had worn that evening.

The thoughtful, distanced expression on Jordan’s face evidences Eakins’s interest in conveying the emotional essence of his subjects. The careful modeling of the sitter’s body is characteristic of Eakins’s unflinching naturalism.

ARTIST Thomas Eakins, American, 1844-1916

MEDIUM Oil on canvas

Place Made: United States

DATES 1888

DIMENSIONS 59 15/16 x 40 3/16 in. (152.3 x 102 cm) frame: 68 7/16 x 48 11/16 x 4 1/2 in. (173.8 x 123.7 x 11.4 cm) (show scale)

SIGNATURE Unsigned

INSCRIPTIONS Inscribed lower right: "TO MY FRIEND / D.W. JORDAN / EAKINS.88"

COLLECTIONS American Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 27.50

CREDIT LINE Dick S. Ramsay Fund

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Visions and Myths of a Nation, 1800–1890

CAPTION Thomas Eakins (American, 1844-1916). Letitia Wilson Jordan, 1888. Oil on canvas, 59 15/16 x 40 3/16 in. (152.3 x 102 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 27.50 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 27.50_SL1.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 27.50_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

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