The Spinner

Artist Thomas Eakins American, 1844–1916

Dateabout 1876

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensionscanvas: 76.7 × 64 cm (30 3/16 × 25 3/16 in.)
framed: 90.2 × 76.8 cm (35 1/2 × 30 1/4 in.)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1929.123

Label TextMilestone anniversaries often prompt reflections on the past. The 1876 celebration of the United States Centennial, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the country, sparked widespread interest in the colonial era. Artists mined this history to foster patriotic pride and promote a vision of national identity.

Around the time of the 1876 Centennial, Philadelphia artist Eakins created a series of images depicting women in colonial garb spinning and knitting. Here, he emphasizes the diligence of mental concentration required to work the spinning wheel by spotlighting the figure against a monochromatic background.

In Eakins's romanticized vision of the past, the spinning wheel serves as a symbol of female domesticity and pre-industrial handicraft. Such imagery appealed to audiences concerned about changes wrought by rapid industralization and by women demanding an expanded role in civic life through an educational and professional opportunities and the vote. —
ProvenanceMrs. Thomas Eakins, ?1917?; C.W. Cranmer, Philadelphia, 1929; WAM, 1929

On View

On view

Current Location