Anshutz, Thomas Pollock

Anshutz, Thomas Pollock (1851–1912). American painter and teacher, assistant to Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1876 to 1886, and his successor as professor when Eakins resigned in 1886. Anshutz was very different in character from Eakins (modest rather than awe-inspiring), but he upheld his great predecessor's tradition nobly, maintaining his emphasis on the study of anatomy and close observation of the subject; like Eakins, too, he was disdainful of students competing for medals and prizes. Robert Henri was one of the students who found Anshutz a particularly sympathetic teacher; there are many references to him in Henri's diary, where he says Anshutz urged him to ‘Get the big things first, then the little ones', and in 1919 he recalled him as ‘a great influence, for he was a man of the finest quality, a great friend, gave excellent advice, and never stood against a student's development'. His other pupils included Charles Demuth, William Glackens, George Luks, John Marin, and Everett Shinn. Anshutz's own paintings—mainly portraits and female nudes—are firmly constructed, like Eakins's, but more glossy.