# Study for "The Dancing Lesson": The Banjo Player, in Thomas Eakins

Thomas Eakins painted this (probably 1877), aged 33. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

Our note:

> A young banjo player leans over his instrument, lit from the left so that his profile falls into shadow, in an oil study Thomas Eakins made for his watercolour The Dancing Lesson of 1878.

[Read the full label](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/study-for-the-dancing-lesson-the-banjo-player-nga-66414#about-work)

## The work

- Date: probably 1877
- Medium: oil on canvas on cardboard
- Dimensions: overall: 49.5 x 37.9 cm (19 1/2 x 14 15/16 in.) framed: 57.9 x 45.7 x 3.5 cm (22 13/16 x 18 x 1 3/8 in.)
- Type: Painting
- Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985.64.16
- Licence: CC0 1.0

## The artist

[Thomas Eakins](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/thomas-eakins), American, 1844–1916

Eakins studied in Paris under Jean-Léon Gérôme and was impressed in Spain by Velázquez and Ribera, then returned to Philadelphia, where he spent his life.

9 works in the collection.

## Walk on

- [Thomas Eakins's contemporaries](https://www.ochreeditions.com/galleries/artist/contemporaries-of-thomas-eakins?hang=750) (8 works)
- [More American Gilded Age](https://www.ochreeditions.com/galleries/style/american-gilded-age?hang=750) (67 works)
- [19th-century United States](https://www.ochreeditions.com/galleries/era/19-united-states?hang=750) (198 works)

## Get it

- [Print this work](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/study-for-the-dancing-lesson-the-banjo-player-nga-66414#print)
- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1606.jpg?dl=1
- [The work's page](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/study-for-the-dancing-lesson-the-banjo-player-nga-66414)