By: Mark C. Gridley
Professor of Psychology-Retired
Heidelberg College
Tiffin, Ohio
Abstract
Perceptions of emotion in the faces of subjects painted by Thomas Eakins were collected from three groups of laymen and several art historians. Speculations are offered about the origins of the sad and weary expressions on faces that predominate in his late-period paintings and the artist’s inclination to produce non-flattering portraits of friends, family, and business associates. Arguments from earlier scholars are interspersed with original arguments, counterarguments, and observations solicited from professional fine artists: (a) Imposing Eakins’ own feelings onto the faces of his sitters; (b) documenting neurasthenia; (c) continuing an artistic tradition of lamentation paintings; (d) venting generalized anger; (e) believing that aged faces are more aesthetically pleasing than smooth faces; (f) believing that sadness and weariness are more interesting than happiness and energy; (g) believing that depth of character and intelligence is conveyed by unflattering portraits.
Keywords: personality, psychopathology, neurasthenia, lamentation paintings, melancholia, martyrdom, generalized anger; displacement, chronic fatigue syndrome, manic-depression, projection, French Realist Tradition, choleric personality, and malevolent personality.
To cite as: Gridley, Mark C. 2024, “Why So Sad, Weary and Unflattering? Speculations on Late-Period Portraits by Thomas Eakins” PsyArt 28 (2024), pp. 56-104.
For extensive consultation on this article’s content and presentation the author remains deeply grateful to Henry Adams, Merce Robinson, Charles Herndon, Claudia Brown, Scott Routenberg, Pat McCarty, Susan Hunt, Cathy Carver, David Ross, Mary Lachman and Dominick Scaramuzzino.