Speaking of Pictures: Abbott Handerson Thayer

Media - 1929.6.122 - SAAM-1929.6.122_1 - 511
Abbott Handerson Thayer, My Children (Mary, Gerald, and Gladys Thayer), ca. 1897, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.122
SAAM Staff
Blog Editor
April 25, 2006

Check out SAAM’s new Interact feature—Speaking of Pictures—which allows you to roll over an art image to find hidden meanings. This time we spotlight a painting by Abbott Handerson Thayer called My Children (Mary, Gerald, and Gladys Thayer). Can you make out the figures of the younger children? Read on, and the snaking vines enveloping them might make sense!

Thayer is best known for his paintings of angels. But he was also an avid naturalist and studied the way camouflage protects animals from predators. His book Concealing Coloration in the Animal Kingdom helped develop camouflage techniques during World War I. Artworks in SAAM’s collection include dozens of studies for this book—completed by Thayer and his children.

If you like Speaking of Pictures, see our previous Interact pages. Learn more in our online exhibition Abbott Handerson Thayer.

 

Recent Posts

Embroidered tapestry with the Virgen de Guadalupe in the center, flowers around the frame, and barbed wire slashing through the middle of the work.
How Consuelo Jimenez Underwood weaves lived experiences into her artwork.
Amy Fox
Social Media and Digital Content Specialist
A quilt with large, concentric squares hang in a gallery. Quilts are mounted on the wall behind it.
Exploring SAAM's collection of stunning Amish quilts
SAAM
Highly decorative wooden bench.
Explore artist Rachel David's functional artwork created for SAAM's Renwick Gallery.
Elana Hain