A Life in Paris – February 28, 1867

6 Francs for a comb. I get my hair cut over in the American part of the town in a nice establishment. The prices are the same all over the town…

Photography print available at Found View Gallery.

6 Francs for a comb. I get my hair cut over in the American part of the town in a nice establishment. The prices are the same all over the town. As I was coming out, the thought just popped into my head that it would be a good chance to buy a comb as my own was broken to pieces. I was shown a very nice one for 26 fr. and I thought it rather dear. Then they showed me a 10 franc one. Same fault. Perhaps Mister would like a cheap comb I admitted the delicate insinuation and the woman showed me the 6 franc ones, the cheapest she had, one of which I took. I asked Mrs. Moore next week what a good comb was worth. She said I might have got a good india rubber one for a couple of francs. My own I notice on holding it up to the light is of a beautiful shell and since my discovery I always feel nervous about using it. […]

Yesterday it rained and snowed all day, and I had to make a fire for the first time in six weeks. Tomorrow it will probably be hot in the morning foggy in the afternoon & rainy at night.

Thomas Eakins, to his mother

Notes:
• From The Paris Letters of Thomas Eakins
• Thomas Eakins was an American artist.

Thoughts on Paris – January 16, 1867

I have sometimes commenced in my letters trying to give an account of beautie…

Photography print available at Found View Gallery.

I have sometimes commenced in my letters trying to give an account of beautie & twice I commenced a letter to Mr Holmes about the Galleries of the Louvre & Luxembourg, but the pleasure in seeing a picture cannot be conveyed by writing & I find the attempt contemptible. I can say a sunset picture is very fine with its red & yellow clouds, & if I go into rhapsody you admire my smartness and conclude the picture is a good one, but you really receive from it not the slightest pleasure or profit. […] The most in fact I could really do would be to send on a list of the artists & size of the frames.

Comparisons however may be made. A few of our pictures in the Sanitary Fair [in Philadelphia] have never I believed been surpassed; but I see here many just as good by the same men and thousands larger & grander as compositions.

The advantages here are nevertheless much greater than in America for students, a fine daylight school, & a professor who corrects sharply when one makes a hippopotamus of himself.

There is nothing of importance going on at Paris just now. The Seine is very high & there are fears it will still rise on account of the snows.

Thomas Eakins, to his father

Notes:
• From The Paris Letters of Thomas Eakins
• Thomas Eakins was an American artist.

Thoughts on Paris – January 8, 1867

Sunday last I went to Saint Sulpice to hear music, it being a feast day…

Photography print available at Found View Gallery.

Sunday last I went to Saint Sulpice to hear music, it being a feast day. It was the biggest church music I ever heard. Besides the music they had grand processions all around the cathedral. Over a hundred monks helped form the line, and they present a fine appearance with their long cloaks and covered heads.

We see a good many monks here in Paris. The most remarkable thing about them is perhaps their dirtiness. “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” So runs the proverb. It’s fortunate for them that is not “Cleanliness only etc.”

[…] They have the head shorn, and their simple cloak is tied around the waist with a rope. They wear sandals instead of shoes even in this cold weather. How beautiful they would be if only they were clean. However it rains here very often & then their feet can’t help being washed.

Thomas Eakins, to his sister

Notes:
• From The Paris Letters of Thomas Eakins
• Thomas Eakins was an American artist.