Before 1886

Nude Boy Standing, Grasping His Shoulder

This is one of four photographs depicting this young boy in the same setting. He strikes different poses in each frame, suggesting that these may have been informal figure studies to be used by a painter or other artist when creating a larger work. Naked children sometimes appear in art from the 1800s as symbols of innocence and in scenes of maternity and domesticity.

The photographs descended in the family of Frank Stephens, a sculptor and a brother-in-law of the painter Thomas Eakins. Eakins made close study of the human figure central to his work and advocated frank representation of the nude in art. He also championed the use of photography as a creative medium in its own right, leading to its widespread use among his students and admirers. His use of fully nude models (including his students and himself) caused much controversy in his lifetime and he was ostracized for his unconventional views and practices.

There’s no record of who the boy in this group of pictures was or who the photographer was, and the possible connection between the pictures and Eakins himself remains speculative.