Going against the crowd challenges perceptions and allows people to be innovative. The ability to create and change people's perceptions can come with the price of becoming an outcast and ostracized if society disapproves. Once rejected by society for his controversial and scandalous artistic styles, today Thomas Eakins is recognized as one of America's greatest painters for his collective work. His body of work combined perception, strength, character and commitment to achieve realism. Through his paintings and photography, Thomas' interests consumed most of his time as he thoroughly studied the anatomy and muscles of the human body. Thomas Eakins' love of realism and the immense beauty of anatomy encouraged him to pursue perfection as he mastered the drawing of a flawless human body; paying attention to every detail in his paintings: The Gross Clinic and The Agnew Clinic. Today society proclaims Thomas Eakins as the founder of American realism during the nineteenth century, but throughout his life critics considered his works controversial. Throughout his career, his approval ratings were low and he sold very few works of art. His public disapproval only increased with his scandalous teaching styles, which forced his students to model nude for each other. Yet despite all the controversy surrounding Eakins, he remained true to his passion. Thomas Eakins captured true representations of the people he painted even if they were not what they wished to see, while most portrait artists made alterations to reality, he always painted the truth about the human body. Many disliked Thomas' stubbornness and his reluctance to change. Precise proportions were vital in Thomas Ea...... middle of paper ......body was too much for the people who saw this painting and it was rejected because of the graphic and horrific content displayed. Works Cited Burns, Sarah, “Ordering the Artist's Body: Proceedings of Self-Portrait by Thomas Eakins,” American Art, vol. 19, no. 1 (Spring 2005), The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, pp. 82-107. Erwin, Robert, “Who Was Thomas Eakins?” The Antioch Magazine, Vol. 66, n. 4, Celebrity Deaths (Fall 2008), Antioch Review, Inc. pp. 655-664. www.jstor.org.maurice.bgsu.edu/stable/25475641> Goodrich, Lloyd, “Thomas Eakins, Realist,” Bulletin of the Pennsylvania Museum, Vol.25, No. 133, Thomas Eakins 1844-1916 (March 1930) , Philadelphia Museum of Art, pp. 8-17.