141 years ago today, on July 25, 1884 (June 4, 1884 lunar calendar), American painter and photographer Tom Eakins was born. Tom Eakins Tom Copswit Eakins (ThomasCowperthwaiteEakins, July 25, 1844 - June 25, 1916) was an American realist painter and photographer. Born in Philadelphia, he attended the Pennsylvania School of Fine Arts in his early years. From 1866 to 68, he studied at the Paris Academy of Fine Arts with Jean-Leo Jerome, and in 1869 he went to Spain, where he was exposed to the works of Thiergo Velasquez and Libela, influenced by the academic and classical styles. In 1870, he returned to Philadelphia, where he lived in his parents' home, and painted many portraits of his relatives, as well as some outdoor activities such as rowing boats. He began teaching at his alma mater, the Pennsylvania School of Fine Arts, in 1876. In 1886, he was fired for using naked male models in a co-ed class. In 1883, he used himself as a model to take seven nude photos in different poses, and also used students as models to take some works for students to learn. He used photography to study the delicate parts of people and animals to make his paintings closer to the truth; he also used photographs to help teach. He also learned the skills of the photographer at the time, Edward Mubrick. Eakins influenced many realistic painters, especially the American dumpster school and its student sculptor Sam Murray. Mrs. Eakins and the Hound, "Miss Alice Cooter," "Amelia Van Buren Girl," "Baseball" "Elizabeth with the Dog," "Champion in a Single Boat," "Fighting for a Row," "Voyage After the Track," "Walt Whitman," "Competition," "Mary Adeline William," "Mrs. Stokes," "Playboy," "Scene in the Park on a May Morning," "Elizabeth L. Bourton," "Swimming."