Thomas Eakins 1844-1916

Mrs. Anton Otto Fischer, Kingston, New York (the sitter's daughter), 1923
M. Knoedler & Co., New York
Acquired from the above, 1962

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Peale House Galleries, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, n.d.
Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Art Galleries, In Celebration: Works of Art from the Collections of Princeton Alumni and Friends of The Art Museum, February-June 1997
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Independence Seaport Museum, Life of a Sailor: A Collector's Vision, September 1999-September 2000

Lloyd Goodrich, Thomas Eakins: His Life and Work, New York, 1933, no. 388, p. 197
Lloyd Goodrich, Thomas Eakins, Vol. II, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982, p. 208

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Charles D. Sigsbee, born in Albany, New York on January 16, 1845, joined the U.S. Navy at the age of fourteen.  During his forty-eight years of service he rose through the ranks from Acting Midshipman to Rear Admiral in 1903, surviving both the Civil and Spanish-American wars. Highly decorated and widely admired, Admiral Sigsbee is best remembered for the heroic and courageous measures he took to save the lives of his fellow officers as Captain of the U.S.S. Maine battleship when she exploded in Havana harbor in February of 1898; this attack was later identified as one of the major catalysts of the Spanish-American war.  In a letter written to a young Naval Academy candidate on March 19^th, 1898, Admiral Sigsbee reflected on the destruction of the U.S.S. Maine: "I have had seven commands, but in no instance have I felt more pride of command than in the care of the dear old Maine ... Don't you let anybody believe, my boy, that there will be any other than the dutiful thing done whenever grave emergency comes to the Navy.  Individually and collectively the Navy will always try to meet the confidence of the people."  Before his retirement from service in 1907, Admiral Sigsbee commanded the League Island Navy Yard in Philadelphia, the South Atlantic Squadron and the North Atlantic Fleet.

Rather than seeking commissions for portraits, Thomas Eakins often asked his friends if they would sit for him. Lloyd Goodrich noted that Eakins likely met Admiral Sigsbee "through their mutual friend Mrs. Willard Parker, whose daughter Helen was to be the subject of The Old-Fashioned Dress" (Thomas Eakins, 1982, p. 208). Sigsbee posed for Eakins at the League Island barracks in 1903 the year the commander was promoted to Rear Admiral.

Consistent with Eakins's late portraiture, the artist avoids any direct connection between viewer and subject by focusing the Admiral's undaunted gaze off into the distance.  Eakins' masterful handling of light and shadow draws the viewer's attention to the meticulous details of the portrait – the rendering of Sigsbee's grey hair, ornamented naval cap, weathered skin and the two stars of a Rear Admiral on his collar – all elements which reflect both the tragic and heroic experiences of a man deeply committed to the service and the protection of his country. 

Admiral Sigsbee later wrote to Eakins: "I have intended writing you concerning the portrait.  I have delayed chiefly because I desired to get criticisms of my friends.  Please let me say that there is one judgment that is common to all: - 'The man who painted that picture is an artist.' ... I had no idea until you gave me the picture that it was intended to be a gift.  I feel very piratical in accepting so much of your time and talent" (Lloyd Goodrich, Thomas Eakins: His Life and Work, 1933, p. 208).