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Which Spanish painters influenced Thomas Eakins after his trip to Spain in 1869?
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Thomas Eakins
Portrait of Dr. Samuel D. Gross (The Gross Clinic), oil on canvas by Thomas Eakins, 1875; part of the collections of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Art Museum. 2 Ă 2.5 m.
Following his trip to Spain in 1869, the American painter Thomas Eakins was significantly influenced by the 17th-century works of Diego Velåzquez and José de Ribera.1
Eakins was drawn to these artists because of their bold use of paint and brush, which contrasted with the strict academic training he had previously received in France. He admired their ability to express a vivid sense of life, a quality he referred to as "big work," and it was during this time in Spain that he began his first independent oil painting efforts.1