Bryan Charles S
Presented in part at the 44th Annual Meeting of the American Osler Society with the Osler Club of London, Oxford, England, May 13, 2014.
Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2016 Jul;29(3):337-41. doi: 10.1080/08998280.2016.11929462.
Critics consider the 1908-1909 portrait of William Osler by S. Seymour Thomas the best of six oil-on-canvas portraits of Osler done from life, including those by the more acclaimed US artists John Singer Sargent and William Merritt Chase. Osler called it "the best pictorial diagnosis I have ever seen" and told Thomas "I am at your service." A reappraisal of Seymour Thomas explains why his portrait makes us feel much as the artist did in Osler's presence, which is the original English-language definition of "empathy." Thomas told his subject that "I feel that you can look clear through me and see the wall on the other side." The intensity of Osler's gaze affects us similarly. The portrait satisfied Osler, but his wife, Grace Revere Osler, never warmed to it, perhaps because it depicts so clearly a highly focused, agenda-driven man. Helen Thomas used the portrait to promote her husband's business, and, after a tortuous history, the portrait eventually returned to Oxford University, where it now hangs inconspicuously in the Radcliffe Science Library.
评论家们认为，S. 西摩·托马斯于1908年至1909年间创作的威廉·奥斯勒的油画肖像，是六幅根据真人绘制的奥斯勒油画肖像中最出色的一幅，其中还包括更为著名的美国艺术家约翰·辛格·萨金特和威廉·梅里特·蔡斯所画的肖像。奥斯勒称其为“我见过的最佳图像诊断”，并对托马斯说“随时听候您的吩咐”。对西摩·托马斯的重新评价解释了为何他的这幅肖像能让我们感受到画家在奥斯勒面前的那种感受，而这正是“同理心”在英语中的原始定义。托马斯对他的画中人说：“我感觉您能看穿我，看到我身后的墙。”奥斯勒凝视的专注程度也同样影响着我们。这幅肖像让奥斯勒很满意，但他的妻子格蕾丝·里维尔·奥斯勒却一直不喜欢，也许是因为它如此清晰地描绘出了一个目标明确、行事专注的人。海伦·托马斯利用这幅肖像来推广她丈夫的事业，历经波折后，这幅肖像最终回到了牛津大学，如今它静静地挂在拉德克利夫科学图书馆里。
