Swimming in Imagination

You ever looked at an artwork and it catches your attention so much, that you would want to find out the meanings behind it? However, if there aren't any description on the artwork, you would just be in a sea of imagination. Don't worry, it's not a bad thing. Every artwork has its own meanings, every artist's move meant something. In my opinions, most common way for an artist to communicate is through art. Therefore, you can learn a lot about an artist just by carefully reviewing their arts.

This is a painting called "The Swimming Hole" by Thomas Eakins, it was created between 1884 to 1885. Without reading through the description, I can think of many meanings for this painting. One of the meaning that came up on my mind was that Thomas Eakins was actually a homosexual. However, in that period of time homosexual was not accepted by others. Therefore, he did not include any male genital organ in this painting. Most of the models in this painting have their back facing us, so we are able to see their bottoms. I believed that Eakins did not paint this painting the moment of. Instead he would observe then paint it with his memories, because there are many movements in this painting, it would be hard to paint it while they are moving. In addition, I believed that Eakins did not actually know these models in the painting. In fact, I think he was hiding from them while he observed. Also, he really enjoyed the shape and structure on a male body, because we can see the careful details on their bodies. I also believed that Eakins included the natural background on purpose. It was to balance the male nudities, because nudity is the natural form on a human, while green grass is the natural form of earth. This way, it will create a peaceful environment on this painting. One thing I would recommend to Eakins is to learn how to use a camera. Knowing that camera was created in 1839, it would be easier for Eakins to creep, I meant to discover more structure on male human body.