‘The Gross Clinic’ (1875, oil on canvas) 240cm × 200cm by Thomas Eakins is esteemed for its daring realistic version of a 19th century surgical theatre. Eakins, an American realist painter, based it on a surgery he witnessed at Jefferson Medical College.

Dr Samuel D. Gross (1805-84), a prominent American surgeon, is the central figure in the painting.

Completed for the Centennial Exposition, initially it was rejected, but the tactic was overall a success.

While some art critics talked against its ghastly subject matter and inherent melodrama, viewers were nonetheless captivated by the work’s theatricality.

The artist showcases his academic training and reveals an uncompromising desire to portray honest details of form, depth and proportion.

‘The Gross Clinic’ has been recognised as one of the greatest American paintings ever made and is presently displayed at Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, US. — M.I.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, July 27th, 2014