Thomas Anshutz papers, circa 1870-1942

This group of 66 vintage prints includes photographic figure studies, both clothed and nude, in classroom and outdoor settings; individual portraits; class portraits from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; informal photographs of students in the classroom; staged scenes of groups outdoors; and photographs of works of art. Among those pictured are Thomas Anshutz, Thomas Eakins, Eadweard Muybridge, William H. MacDowell, Susan MacDowell (later Eakins), and J. Laurie Wallace.

The photographs in this series are attributed to the Circle of Anshutz and Eakins from the period when the two worked together at the Pennsylvania Academy and the University of Pennsylvania, between 1880, when Eakins first acquired a camera, and 1886, when Eakins was dismissed from the Academy and presumably ceased contact with Anshutz. Although the prints bear no information regarding who took them or when, many of these photographs are known to have been taken by someone in Eakins' circle because duplicate images or close variants exist in other collections associated with Eakins. The most notable of these collections is the Charles Bregler collection, which consists of papers rescued from Eakins' studio in 1938 by Charles Bregler, friend of Susan MacDowell Eakins, and acquired from Bregler's widow by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1985. Other photographs have been attributed and dated to that period based on their content, such as the portraits of Susan MacDowell, who was a student at the Academy until 1882.

Some of the sessions and excursions represented in this series are well-known in the literature on Eakins, particularly the outdoor nudes and the figure studies of models in classical dress. In some cases, published sources have credited Eakins as the photographer, even of photographs in which he appears. Others have noted that students, assistants, and teacher alike served as both models and photographers. Given this atmosphere of collaboration, and in the absence of any identifying marks, it is nearly impossible to attribute these photographs to a specific photographer. While it is likely that Eakins took some of these photographs, it is equally likely that Anshutz took some as well, especially considering the collection's provenance. Anshutz may also have printed photographs that he did not take and kept the prints among his papers. Students known to have taken photographs at PAFA during this period, who may also have taken photographs in this series, include John Laurie Wallace and Covington Few Seiss. Susan MacDowell was also a photographer at that time and could conceivably have assumed that role in her classes.

The photograph of William H. MacDowell, Eakins' father-in-law, is attributed to Eakins in several published sources, and this attribution is maintained here. A print of Eakins' painting The Gross Clinic may have been made from a negative taken circa 1875-1876, when Eakins is said to have used the photograph to introduce his painting to the public.

Additional photographs taken during this period may also be among the Unattributed Photographs.

In this series, Anshutz is assumed to be the photographer because he possessed the original negatives, and/or because the images were used as studies for his paintings of the 1890s and 1900s. The series consists of 49 images from glass plate negatives, 3 with vintage albumen prints made from those negatives, and 14 additional prints without negatives, most of which are cyanotype (blue) prints.

Images are grouped by subject matter and setting. Fishing boat scenes, domestic scenes, and beach scenes were probably taken at Holly Beach, NJ, where Anshutz often vacationed with his family. One photograph of a child with Anshutz in the background (filed with Portraits) suggests that others in the family may have been involved in taking these photographs. Images of boys on an industrial riverfront were taken on the Ohio River near Wheeling, then in Virginia, now in West Virginia. Images of Ships and Docks may have been taken during Anshutz's long river excursion down the Delaware and Maurice Rivers in 1897.

The original format of most of these images is the original glass plate negative, either 4x5" or 6 ½ x 8 ½". Vintage contact prints, presumably made by Anshutz, are present for only 3 of these images, all cropped. Digital scans have been made from the original glass negatives, and the negatives themselves are closed to researchers. Copy negatives and copy prints have been created by the Archives for all of the images in this series, and are filed after originals. Copies have not been digitized.

Additional photographs taken by Thomas Anshutz may be filed in Photographs by Circle of Anshutz and Eakins or Unattributed Photographs.

Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.

Photographs in this series consist of 92 vintage albumen or cyanotype prints, both mounted and unmounted. Some are similar in subject matter and format to those attributed to the Circle of Anshutz and Eakins, and others bear more similarity to the later photographs made by Anshutz. Despite similarities, however, images in this series have not been directly associated with the photography of Eakins and his circle or with Anshutz as have the photographs above. Due to this ambiguity and lack of identifying information on the photographs themselves, they have not been attributed.

Several unidentified individuals, interior spaces, and furnishings re-appear in portraits and groups, and may depict family and friends of Anshutz. Occasionally multiple prints are mounted on a single backing; in these cases, they have been counted as a single print.

This series includes 11 photographs taken in professional photographers' studios and mounted on commercially-stamped backing. A few individuals are identified, including one photograph of Thomas Eakins, and another of E.P. Anshutz, Thomas Anshutz's brother.

This series includes twelve prints that appear to have been made at a later time, including a portrait of Anshutz, Anshutz painting a sitter's portrait, Anshutz's studio, a group photograph of the Philadelphia Sketch Club, and six reproductions of drawings of Harper's Ferry by Anshutz. Some of the photographs are annotated by Anshutz's son, Edward Anshutz.