The Right Reverend Monsignor James F. Loughlin 1902

Thomas Eakins painted this portrait of The Right Reverend Monsignor James F. Loughlin using oil on canvas. I find it compelling how Eakins focuses on the Monsignor's face, with its slightly ruddy complexion, as the only source of light against the dark background. Look at the Monsignor's cloak – it's not just a flat expanse of color. Eakins uses visible brushstrokes to give it texture and weight, moving between pink, red and white. You can almost feel the fabric, its folds and drapes creating a sense of depth that contrasts with the relative flatness of the background. The dark background is a mass of muted tones, where individual marks are blurred into one another, a good example of an artist using tone to create form. Eakins reminds me of Manet in his use of light and shadow to create form, as well as a certain psychological realism, a real sense of the subject's character. Ultimately, painting is about looking, about feeling, and about the ongoing conversation between artists across time.