Thomas Anshutz began his studies at the National Academy of Design under Lemuel Wilmarth before entering the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts to study with Thomas Eakins, eventually becoming Eakins’s assistant and then taking over his position when Eakins was asked to leave. Six years later, Anshutz took a year’s leave from his teaching duties and sailed to France to return to art school at the Académie Julian. Anshutz taught at the Pennsylvania Academy for another 25 years, where he was dedicated to helping students recognize and explore their individuality in order to express their own view of the world, while still adhering to the solid training he received from Eakins and his teacher at the Julian, the academician William Bouguereau.