Heroicism and Evolution in Thomas Eakins’ The Gross Clinic and The Agnew Clinic
Both Thomas Eakins’ The Gross Clinic (1875) and The Agnew Clinic (1889) are realistic oil paintings which depict a medical doctor lecturing to students about surgery. The two paintings, through the use of color, lighting, and space, both portray the doctor heroically and give high regard to the field of medicine. However, the tone of the two portraits, along with the way Eakins decided to portray the scene, are inherently different. The Gross Clinic is darker and more chaotic, while The Agnew Clinic is lighter and calmer. These disparities in the two paintings highlight the shift in the era of medicine and the advancement of medical technology in the 14 year time period between the two paintings.
In both The Gross Clinic and The Agnew Clinic, Eakins put the focal point of the painting on the presumed head doctor using space, shape, and color. In The Gross Clinic, one doctor stands slightly to the left of the centre, above the rest of the medical staff and in the forefront of the painting. Even though Eakins put all the medical staff on the same plane, this doctor is distinguished from the rest. While the other crouch down around the patient, he stands upright, an obvious sign of authority as he is physically towering above everyone else. The doctor’s head and wiry gray hair is illuminated from above by soft light, creating a halo effect around the doctor’s head. This gives the doctor an almost angelic, heroic feel, but the angles on his face still preserve his masculinity. The bodies of the medical staff as a whole form a pyramid, with the main doctor’s head as the pinnacle. Not only is the stability and professionalism of the medical staff remarked on here, but the main doctor is also thus identified as a ‘leader’, the ‘top’ of the group. In addition to the pyramid, diagonals are also formed that point towards the doctor’s head. When the head of the secretary on the left of the painting and the rightmost surgeon’s bent back are joined, a diagonal is formed with the doctor’s head and the patient in the centre. However, as the doctor’s head is higher than the patient’s body, the doctor still remains the focal point. Note that though the secretary is placed higher than the doctor, he is nevertheless mush smaller in proportion and in the background, so he thus does not eclipse the doctor. In addition, while all the other medical staff have their gaze fixed on the patient, the main doctor looks away and to the left, presumably as he lectures students. This difference in direction of gaze distinguishes him from the other medical staff. Lastly, the fact that the painting is vertical means that the focus can be put on the doctor, and not the whole medical team.
In The Agnew Clinic, the main doctor is distinguished by his physical isolation from the rest of the medical staff in the oval. By the use of negative space within the oval, the doctor is set apart from the rest and brought into focus. If Eakins had clumped him together with the rest of the medical staff, he would have been undistinguished. In addition, the empty space on the left of the oval would be too great and create and unbalanced painting that skewed to the right. Thus, in a way, the doctor balances out the oval and centers the painting. Outside of the oval, Agnew, and the rest of the medical staff, are distinguished from the students by their white attire. Against the dark sea of students, the medical staff pops out. Similar to The Gross Clinic, the main doctor in The Agnew Clinic looks away from the patient and into the presumed sea of students on the right of the painting, while the rest of the medical staff are concentrated on the student. This effect makes him authoritative and powerful. The doctor’s posture also adds to his authority. His right arm is bent at an almost 90 degree angle and his lower arm is straight and firm. This sturdy shape stabilizes him and the gesturing of his hands implies power and authority. However, while The Gross Clinic was a vertical painting, The Agnew Clinic is a horizontal one. This means that though the main doctor in The Agnew Clinic is still the focal point, he is less emphasizes than the doctor in The Gross Clinic.
Though The Gross Clinic and The Agnew Clinic deal with the same subject, they invoke different tones. The Gross Clinic is grittier, and more chaotic in its bloodiness, while The Agnew Clinic is cleaner and ordered, tough still retaining a shock element with its exposed female patient. In The Gross Clinic, Eakins uses darker colors, with a natural light that shines on the faces of the medical staff and the surgery. Eakins painted the students in the background of the painting with larger brushstrokes and darker colors, and thus they are individually undistinguishable. Thus, the emphasis and drama is placed on the medical staff and surgery. The patient is not draped. The shock of bare pale flesh of the patient is framed by the dark attire of the medical staff. At first perhaps indiscernible, upon closer inspection appears to me the bare buttocks and thigh of a patient. Without being able to see any clearly distinguishable feature of the patient, the patient seems dehumanized, like just an experiment to be worked on. This increases the horror element of the painting. In addition, in a chiaroscuro type of painting, the only bright colors are the red of the blood. The surgery is in plain view, and the blood on the surgery is evident and vivid. Most intensely, the lustrous red on the main doctor’s right hand and scalpel pops out amid the darkness. The element of goriness is thus worked into the painting. Lastly, it seems that Eakins may have predicted the viewer’s reaction to the painting with the crouched figure of the woman on the left. In the corner, the woman is doubled over and obviously horrified by the surgery. Her hand claws out and seems to come toward the viewer, creating an unsettling effect. Thus the painting has a chaotic and fearful undertone. The absence of a banister in the front of the painting means that the audience is not separated, but rather engaged, and drawn into the drama. However, the chaos of in the painting serves to depict the doctors’ heroism. Amid the blood and chaos, he emerges stoic, calm, authoritative. He stands above and eclipses the irrationality and fear of the woman. The blood illustrates the importance of what is at stake here, and thus Gross is heroic in saving the patient.
In The Agnew Clinic, the whole painting is lighter and more illuminated. This means that there is less of the dramatic emphasis on just the faces of the medical staff and the patient; instead, the students in the background each of distinguishable features, indicating Eakins’ changed use of the background. There is little redness which pops out, and even if there was, it would be less jarring since The Agnew Clinic is not as chiaroscuro as The Gross Clinic. Instead, it incorporates the browns of the furniture and has a more sepia tone. Here, the female nurse is professional and rational, unlike the horrified woman in The Gross Clinic. The patient, in addition, is more humanized, as some facial and physical features are distinguishable. The doctors wear white, and the patient is draped. To the modern day familiar with modern practices of medicine, the surgery in The Agnew Clinic seems more ordered, hygienic, and professional. However, the exposed breast of the patient may have a shocking effect. Even though she is a patient surrounded by doctors, the idea of a room full of male spectators peering down on this hapless, unconscious, exposed female, may create a sense of indecency. In addition, the banister to the right of the painting is a diagonal line that appears to be pointing down directly at the patient’s breast. This draws greater emphasis on the exposed nature of the female patient.
The contrast between the more chaotic and more ordered nature of The Gross Clinic and The Agnew Clinic respectively showcases the evolution of medicine in the 14 years between the two paintings. The Gross Clinic anesthetician uses a cloth, while in The Agnew Clinic a safer, more modern cone is used. The presence of a Nurse in The Agnew Clinic also reiterates this point. In addition, operating on the chest, as in The Agnew Clinic, seems a much more intricate and complex surgery than operating on the thigh, as in The Gross Clinic. While the medical staff in The Gross Clinic wore street clothes, in The Agnew Clinic they wear white surgery gowns that the modern day viewer would be familiar with. Also, a switch from the dim natural light in The Gross Clinic and the strong artificial light used by the medical staff in The Agnew Clinic highlights not only the technological advances, but can also be used to imply the ‘enlightenment’ period of medicine in The Agnew Clinic. Lastly, in The Gross Clinic, the audience was not distinguishable, and there was a sense that the surgery was more important that the students. However, in The Agnew Clinic, though the medical staff is still emphasized with the contrast in colors, the background students are discernable. This could imply that at that time, there was an increased focus on students and teaching the next generation, as opposed to the harsh immediacy and foreign students in The Gross Clinic.
Both The Gross Clinic and The Agnew Clinic were impressive pieces of work that showcased Eakins’ attention to detail and scientifically realistic style. While both depicting similar situations with the same stock heroic doctor, they differed dramatically in tone and style. Eakins skillfully and successfully employed colors, space, lighting and shapes to achieve his purposes. While The Gross Clinic evoked the earlier clouded uncertainty of medicine, The Agnew Clinic depicted the enlightenment and ushering in of a new era in medicine.