A native of Newport, Kentucky, Thomas Anshutz was known primarily for his paintings of female figures, usually isolated in a contemplative or coquettish pose. However, his most famous canvas is atypical of his work and was an industrial genre piece titled "Steelworkers-Noontime," completed in 1882.

He became a long-time teacher at the Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts and had the dark palette and realistic approach to figure painting of his teacher, Thomas Eakins.

He arrived in New York in 1873 to study at the National Academy of Design under Lemuel Wilmarth. Two years later, he continued his studies at the Pennsylvania Academy under Thomas Eakins and Christian Schussele, and in 1881, joined the Academy facul...