Thomas Eakins, Miss Amelia Van Buren, 1892
This lovely woman, as you could probably tell from the title, is named Amelia Van Buren, and she was a close friend of Eakins and also his student at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts (before Eakins was thrown out on account of radical and “indecent” teaching methods). She was diagnosed with neurasthenia, a catch all phrase used during this time to describe a physical and psychological illness that had no established pathology and a wide range of symtoms, including: insomnia, depression, headache, fatigue, pain, indecision, lack of appetite, hopelessness, etc. Supposedly brought on by overwork, worry, and emotional distress, neurasthenia was associated with the overstimulation of modern life that afflicted mainly middle class people (particularly women).
Eakins himself was also diagnosed with neurasthenia, and had lots of connections to people with mental illnesses, which is one reason he might have decided to portray Van Buren in this manner (most of Eakins’ portraits were unflattering and largely thrown away, returned, or destroyed by the sitters). Elements of the painting that support Eakins’ knowledge and familiarity with this disease include the chair that seems to loom over Van Buren, the sallow tone of her skin, and the abundance of grey hair in a women who was still fairly young when she sat for this painting. There is also a sense of psychological distress that permeates the painting.
