Study for Girl with Cat- – Katherine 1872

Thomas Eakins created this pencil study of a girl with a cat sometime in the late 19th century. The sitter’s form is still emerging, her features indistinct, but the objects surrounding her are clearly recognizable. Note the fan in her right hand: this seemingly simple object is an emblem of power and femininity, adorning depictions of goddesses and queens throughout time, from ancient Egyptian art to Renaissance portraiture. Think of the symbolic weight such a seemingly simple tool carries. A queen's scepter is an object that represents status, a fan is not so different: it grants its bearer a certain amount of control over the surrounding environment. The unfinished quality of the study heightens the sense of the sitter emerging from the subconscious, her image not yet fully formed. The cyclical nature of images shows us how symbols resurface, evolve, and take on new meanings, while still retaining echoes of their origins.