Returning to Philadelphia from Europe in 1870, Eakins began a series of representations of the sport of sculling, a subject with which he is uniquely identified. This, the first major work in the series, probably commemorates the victory of Max Schmitt (1843–1900), an attorney and skilled amateur rower, in an important race held on the Schuylkill River in October 1870. Also an avid rower, Eakins depicted himself pulling the oars of a scull in the middle distance. Eakins constructed the painting according to the academic principles espoused by his primary Parisian teacher, Jean-Léon Gérôme.
