Thomas Eakins (1844-1916, American
Major Manuel Waldteufel (The Violinist), 1907
Oil on canvas
24 x 20

Harmonies of light, line, color and space represent the subject of a musician’s likeness, his instrument, and setting in Major Manuel Waldteufel (The Violinist), by Thomas Eakins. First experienced through the interaction of the artist and his model, the record of a particular quality is recognized again in the plastic relationships by the viewer today. Despite the illustrative facts that portray the sitter’s expressionless facial features, Eakins has articulated a reflective theme of quiet reverberations using the plastic means of paint through soft renditions of tonal color, fluid transitions of shadow and light, disciplined use of repetitions, and a touch of line.
Eakins’ limited color palette contributes to the overall quiet tonality of the picture. Echoes of the Flemish and Velasquez traditions as in Don Luis de Gongora y Argote influence the use of large muted brown and green areas. The subtle modulations of black, coming by way of Titian in mellow works like Man and Son, have a fixed value that keep the compositional components of color calm. Used pervasively, these muffled overtones serve to counterbalance the opposing units that have increased pitch – those of the bright white shirt, and illuminated ochre of flesh.

Eakins’ saturated black, together with understated linear modulations of gray, impart the essential details that describe the suit coat and vest, the lapels, the “U” that designates the jacket’s left sleeve cuff, and the downward directional strokes of hair. Eakins owes his simplified use of black for describing objects to the traditions of Velasquez and Manet, as in the portrait Le Bon Bock (PMA). Eakins’ black color areas are applied with smooth, thin brushwork that keeps the energy level of the picture low, adding to the serene mood.
Eakins integrates light with color to give his units volume, structure, and atmospheric qualities that support the theme of quiet reverberations. The suffusion of Venetian color light moderates and unifies the composition, coming forth fluidly with even intensity from both the illuminated and darker areas. The saturated blacks lend a downy textural quality to the paint that suggests subtle movements, as in those that would be seen in the soft back and forth shimmy in the nap of velvet. The illuminated areas of face and hand show the influence of Frans Hals’ combined patches of light and texture used to create the quality of flesh. Eakins’ smoother approach, however, specifies the slack muscular foundation and bone structure of the face which contributes to the relaxed mood. The violinist’s hand though appears inflated and less convincing when Eakins’ patches of paint become invariable, failing to capture the simulation of anatomical structure, animation, or expressiveness in this unit that is so very important to the rendering of the musician and his music.
Line dissolves into space, over the model’s right shoulder, merging the areas of shadow. This transitions the quality of quiet stillness into subtle movements that hum with the flow of tonal variations, as the directional brushstrokes lift effortlessly from one spatial area to another. With a continuous progression, the brown and ochre merge into impressionistic color chords to support the fluid rhythm of the setting that resonates with soft mellow light. Renoir’s influence is obvious in the soft sweep of broken color that connects the quiet energy of sitter with his setting. The color chords lift, floating, like fading melodious vibrations, circling gently around the stillness of the model, to settle again on the opposite hazy demarcated line of shoulder, as if its cushiony depth could acoustically absorb the sound.
The ease of the curved movement from these color chords are supported by a repetition of curvilinear demarcations that unify the composition in additional ways. The two parallel lines that define the violin’s dark upper bout mirror the curve of the sitter’s forehead, and counterbalance its bright glow. The white line of the shirt’s sleeve resounds the bout curve and rotates the movement up along the top of the hand, to the thumb that points, and connects to a continuation of alternating dark and light curves grouped in the arching wedge of black tie, white collar, and neck, to the left of the instrument’s handle. The close proximity of these units, simultaneously orchestrated with their rhythmic repetitions, moves the eye from the instrument to the man and supports the perception of the musician’s relationship to his music. The outer left line that bump, bump, bumps along the grasp of the four fingers, repeats above, in the faint suggestion of the two left tuning pegs and scroll. The center highlight of the scroll, like a third eye, gives visual weight that glides the viewer’s attention in a slight left to right downward arch, away from the intensity of the sitter’s fixed gaze. In contrast, a series of “V’s” from the shadow line that runs along the side of the nose and mustache, to the tip of the thumb, and up along the left side of the handle, pushes down, away from the flowing background and puts pressure on the hand that holds the instrument silent and at rest. This “V” area has its counterpoint in the “V” of the shirt which amplifies the quiet mood, when Eakins turns up the volume with a bit of brightness in the Manet inspired white.

Several subtle paths are composed by Eakins to link the model to his setting. The “U” of the jacket sleeve is the midpoint between two specters that repeat with variation. The “U” motif is visible as paint scratched away in the lower left corner and again in the faintest outline leaning gently above the sitter’s left shoulder. Furthermore, two diagonals, intersecting at the red focalizing unit of the lapel pin, link the foreground, middle, and background. Thin touches of line designate the diagonal that forms the strings, bow, and neck of the instrument. This diagonal is crossed by a skewer that lifts from the artist’s initials in the bottom right corner, to the “U” of the jacket’s cuff, to the red lapel pin, along the outer gray edge of the bow tie, aided in a directional push by the short vivid white strip, and finally to the tip of the mustache. The narrow “X” formed by these opposing diagonals holds the tension of restrained action intimately between the vertical areas of suffused shadow, suggesting the unity of the quiet man with his musical memories.
The sense focalizing unit is essential in this tonal composition to prevent monotony and to create a spark of interest. But the red lapel pin, concentrated as compartmentalized color enhanced by line, contrasts too sharply against the simplified modulations of black. It attracts attention too quickly, disturbing as would a sudden discordant note that pierces a quiet orchestration. If Eakins had described this red unit using the more integrated approach of a color chord he would have maintained a more unified picture.
Nevertheless, Eakins demonstrates his capability to control the plastic elements of light, line, color, and space with intentional equilibrium and general agreement. He creates a successful representation of a particular model, as well as the expression of quietness merging with delicate movement in Major Manuel Waldteufel, producing in the end a portrait of mellow mastery that develops over time in a person and his finely crafted instrument.

Analysis by Marie Slovich