Thomas Eakins’ Portrait of Professor Benjamin H. Rand Goes on View at Philadelphia Museum of Art
June 7, 2007 – 7:52 pm
Celebrated Work on Loan from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art through May 2008
BENTONVILLE, Ark., June 7, 2007 — Thomas Eakins’ first in a series of portraits of physicians and scientists is now on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Portrait of Professor Benjamin H. Rand is on loan to the museum from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art through May 2008. It will be exhibited permanently at Crystal Bridges, which is currently under construction in Bentonville, Ark., when the museum opens in 2009.
Collaborating with other institutions has become an important focus for the museum even before it opens, according to Robert Workman, Crystal Bridges executive director. “Making art widely accessible to the public is a central part of our mission,” said Workman. “While our museum is under construction, we want to ensure this significant portrait can still be seen by audiences. We understand and appreciate Eakins’ strong ties to Philadelphia where he spent many years working and studying. We have made and will continue to make loans to museums of all sizes and locations for years to come.”
Announced works on loan from the Crystal Bridges permanent collection include:
- Hudson River School masterwork Kindred Spirits by Asher B. Durand, previously on loan to the National Gallery in Washington D.C. and currently on loan at the Brooklyn Museum in New York;
- Gilbert Stuart’s George Washington (The Constable-Hamilton Portrait), which is currently on loan at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, depicting the first president as the father of his country;
- Levy-Franks portraits, attributed to Gerardus Duyckinck and dating from the 1720s to 1735, the most extensive surviving group of Colonial American portraiture. The collection of six portraits is currently on loan at The Jewish Museum in New York.
“It is a pleasure to have this ambitious, innovative portrait here in the context of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s great collection of Eakins’ work,” said Kathleen Foster, the Robert L. McNeill, Jr., curator of American Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “The painting’s combination of dignity and informality invites us to explore the identity of a man that Eakins held in a very respectful and affectionate regard.”
Eakins portrayed the popular Dr. Benjamin H. Rand, a professor at Jefferson Medical College, lost in concentration at his desk, which is shown cluttered both with objects of science and academia and those of domestic life. Absently stroking his pet cat, Rand is poised between the world of intellectual endeavor and the comforts of home. The portrait was a great success for Eakins, earning a place at the Philadelphia Centennial’s (1876) international art exhibition, where it won critical acclaim as one of the best paintings in the exhibition.
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Crystal Bridges is envisioned as a premier national art institution dedicated to American art and artists. Under construction in Bentonville, Ark., the museum complex will encompass approximately 100,000 square feet of gallery, library, meeting, and office space, a 250-seat indoor auditorium, areas for outdoor concerts and public events, as well as sculpture gardens and walking trails.
Crystal Bridges will house a permanent collection of signature works from American artists along with galleries dedicated to regional art and artists including Native American art. The growing permanent collection is composed of paintings and sculptures from the Colonial period through the modern era. Crystal Bridges takes its name from a natural spring on the museum’s wooded site as well as the unique glass-and-wood building design created by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie. The 100-acre site of the museum complex and cultural center is located within walking distance of the Bentonville town square. The project is scheduled to open in 2009. For more information about Crystal Bridges, visitwww.crystalbridges.org.
