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Tuesday, November 3, 2020


This is Franklin Schenck, a student at Eakins' private Art Students' League of Philadelphia who paid his tuition by modeling and being the studio janitor.  Schenck was homosexual and eventually owned a small farm on Long Island where he painted and raised vegetables and chickens.  Some gay friendly writers from New York helped him stage an exhibit of his work at a Manhattan gallery in the early 1920's.  Eakins' widow purchased a number of Schenck's works and donated them to a museum,]
but I have unfortunately been unable to find any on line copies of them.  Eakins is believed to have taken this photograph around 1887.  Franklin was a handsome man and a good model.

 

3 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Yes, and he was described as such by poet Edwin Arlington Robinson who met him in his old age. Before Robinson and some of his friends helped him out, Schenck was reduced at one point to painting on the window shades of his cottage due to lack of canvas. Here are some other pictures: http://www.vintagemusclemen.com/search?q=Schenck . You'll have to copy and paste that link.

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    2. Thank you. A man at one with nature....

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