I never knew of but one artist, and that's Tom Eakins, who could resist the temptation to see what they think ought to be rather than what is.

Whitman: And Eakins - What of Tom Eakins. He is here. Haven't you something to say to us Eakins? Eakins: I am not a speaker. Whitman: So much the better - you …

Thomas Eakins was a man of great character. He was a man of iron will and his will to paint and to carry out his life as he thought it should go. This he did. …

If America is to produce great painters and if young artists wish to assume a place in the history of the art of their country, their first desire should be to…