by Rush. The largest collection of Rush's work can be found at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, including Comedy, Tragedy, The Schuylkill Chained, The Waterworks, portrait busts, and the 1872 bronze casting of Water Nymph and Bittern (on loan from the Fairmount Park Commission). The museum's holdings include many of Thomas Eakins's sketches and studies related to his paintings of Rush, along with the most famous painting: William Rush Carving his Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River (aka William Rush and His Model), 1876–77. Eakins and Rush Painter Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) felt a strong affinity toward Rush. As the 1876 Centennial Exposition approached, he painted two versions of a scene showing Rush carving his Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River (Water Nymph and Bittern). Eakins's portrayal of Rush using a nude model may not have been historically accurate, but it was important to the painter, who made many preparatory sketches and even sculpted miniature wax figures of the people and statues in the paintings. Late in life, Eakins returned to the subject, beginning (but not completing) two versions of Rush with a nude model. In one of his final paintings, created almost exactly a century after Rush's carving of Water Nymph and Bittern, Eakins seems to have portrayed himself as Rush. References Craven, Wayne. American Art. London: McGraw Hill. 2003. Biography at encyclopedia.com History of the Portrait Collection, Independence National Historical Park, Doris Devine Fanelli, Volume 242, page 280 (Google eBook) A History of European and American Sculpture: From the Early Christian Period to the Present Day, Chandler Rathfon Post, Harvard University Press,1921, Volume 2, page 108 (Google eBook) External links Union List of Artist Names, Getty Vocabularies. ULAN Full Record Display for William Rush. Getty Vocabulary Program, Getty Research Institute. Los Angeles, California. 1756 births 1833 deaths Artists from Philadelphia Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts faculty Burials at The Woodlands Cemetery 18th-century American sculptors 18th-century American male artists American male sculptors 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century American male artists Philadelphia City Council members Sculptors from Pennsylvania