Dr. Gross's Clinic

I will specifically talk about the work called "Dr. Gross's Clinic", painted in 1875 by Thomas Eakins, known as the greatest American painting today.

The artist, who was quite young and unknown at the time he painted, wanted to show his talent to everyone. For this purpose, he aimed to make a magnificent composition on a large canvas and to use all the power of the realism movement while doing this.
But while he was proving himself, he also wanted to honor his hometown, Philadelphia. That's why he started painting this painting specifically for the Cenntenial exhibition, a major exhibition that would take place in the city. The person he would paint was the world-famous Dr. Gross, who grew up in Philadelphia and was the artist's anatomy teacher.

In this scene, Dr. Gross, along with five other doctors, are performing surgery on the left thigh of a patient in the lecture hall of Jefferson Medical College. Dr. Gross demonstrates a new treatment method he used to eliminate bone infections during this surgery, according to the records.
From our perspective, the mother of the person who underwent surgery is on the left of the doctor. We see that the woman is crying and is depicted with extreme emotion. They create an extremely interesting contrast to Dr. Gross's coolness and calmness.

When we see the woman crying, our eyes involuntarily move towards the Doctor and we feel relieved with his confident stance. On the far left of the composition, above, we see the artist himself.

At first glance, one might think he was a medical student taking notes. However, we see Eakins taking sketches and notes for the painting he will paint. Even though the painting is very magnificent and impressive with its dimensions of 240 cm × 280 cm, the hall jury does not like the work and rejects it. This is why the artist's plan to introduce Phihedelphia and himself falls through.


According to some critics at the time, the shocking reality of the work and the bright red of the blood shook art lovers quite a bit. Especially the scalpel and bloody fingers in Dr. Gross's hand are one of the most striking details of the picture.





Although the jury members, who argued that this kind of reality was not artistic, had this work removed and did not allow it to be exhibited, today it is considered one of the most powerful works in American history. Thank you for reading. Stay with art...