Thomas Eakins - A May Morning in the Park (The Fairman RogersFour-in-Hand) [1879-80]

Thomas Eakins - A May Morning in the Park (The Fairman Rogers Four-in-Hand) [1879-80], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

This painting was commissioned in 1879 by Fairman Rogers, a civil engineer and coaching enthusiast, who was also Eakins's friend and his most important supporter on the board of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The painting shows Rogers' coach, a type known as a four-in-hand, in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. Fairman Rogers drives the coach with family members and friends seated beside him.

[Philadelphia Museum of Art - Oil on canvas, 60.3 x 91.4 cm]