| Stevenson Memorial | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Abbott Handerson Thayer |
| Year | 1903 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 207.2 cm× 152.6 cm(81.6 in× 60.1 in) |
| Location | Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. |
Stevenson Memorial is a 1903 oil painting by the American artist Abbott Handerson Thayer, intended to commemorate the writer Robert Louis Stevenson. Though Thayer initiated several paintings with the intent of honoring Stevenson, Stevenson Memorial is the only version to survive the artist's revisions.
Abbott Thayer was moved by the writing of Robert Louis Stevenson, whose dramatic characterizations of human conflict resonated with the artist. [1] Thayer painted Stevenson Memorial in his studio in Dublin, New Hampshire. The painting features a young woman clothed in a classical white gown, embellished with wings and a halo. The rock that she sits upon bears the word VAEA, and in the darkness behind her is a small palm tree. [2] VAEA refers to a mountain in the Samoan Islands, atop which Stevenson was buried after his death in 1894. [3] Although he later painted over them, originally Thayer inscribed Stevenson's name and coat of arms across the top of the canvas. [4] After its completion the painting was exhibited in museums across the country, to popular and critical acclaim. [4]
It was Thayer's intent that an earlier painting, My Children (Mary, Gerald and Gladys Thayer), completed in 1897, would serve as memorial to the author. [4] In that work his daughter Mary had initially been painted holding a plaque with Stevenson's monogram, but Thayer transformed the plaque into a laurel wreath and dedicated the work to his children after being told that the painting's connection to Stevenson was not clear. [4] The winged figure of Stevenson Memorial was painted over an earlier work, also a portrait of his three children; it, too, was envisioned as a tribute to Stevenson. [1]
Thayer's working methods were unconventional. According to Rockwell Kent, who at that time worked as an apprentice and copyist in Thayer's studio, Thayer was displeased with the appearance of the rock upon which the figure was seated, and asked for the younger artist's opinion:
With not too much conviction I offered my criticism. "Good!" said Thayer. "Now I'll go out. You take my brushes and paint the rock the way you think it ought to be. And call me when you've finished."....So I went to work. And when I had done the best I could, I called Thayer back. Thayer was generous. "Yes," he cried, "I think you've helped it." Suddenly he cried, "Look! We're both wrong—building it up little by little like that! God said, 'let there be a rock'—and there it was." And picking up a broom he swept it right and left across the painting. It did the trick. [5] [6]
A later painting, Winged Figure Seated upon a Rock (Freer Gallery of Art), was another canvas begun as an alternative conception of the Stevenson Memorial, but was not completed until years later. [7] In 1914 Thayer transformed it into a memorial for his late wife, with his daughter Gladys posing for the figure and a Latin inscription translated as "Mother of my daughter! To you this monument" painted below. [7]
The model for Stevenson Memorial was Bessie Price, a guest of the Thayer household that caught the attention of Mr.Thayer. She had just traveled from Ireland to visit her siblings who worked in the household and decided to stay in America to be Thayer's servant. She had previously posed for other paintings by the artist, including Portrait of Bessie Price, Young Woman (Metropolitan Museum of Art), and Seated Angel (Wadsworth Atheneum). [8]
Although Thayer never discussed the meaning of his angelic figures like the one in Stevenson Memorial, in 1912 he offered a general explanation: "Doubtless my lifelong passion for birds has helped to incline me to work wings into my pictures; but primarily I have put on wings probably more to symbolize an exalted atmosphere (above the realm of genre painting) where one need not explain the action of the figures". [9]
From the 1890s on many of the winged figures painted by Thayer are thought to have expressed the artist's contemplations on grief, and to represent his beliefs on the relationship between body and spirit, but it is also said that the artist painted his models the way that he saw their soul and had a deep connection with each model. [1] [10]
According to museum curator Richard Murray, Stevenson Memorial allowed Thayer to meld his own concepts of "the polar extremes of darkness and light symbolizing the coexistence of madness and sanity and good and evil" with similar themes from Stevenson's writing. [11]
A figure painting is a work of fine art in any of the painting media with the primary subject being the human figure, whether clothed or nude. Figure painting may also refer to the activity of creating such a work. The human figure has been one of the constant subjects of art since the first Stone Age cave paintings, and has been reinterpreted in various styles throughout history.
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Abbott Handerson Thayer was an American artist, naturalist, and teacher. As a painter of portraits, figures, animals, and landscapes, he enjoyed a certain prominence during his lifetime, and his paintings are represented in major American art collections. He is perhaps best known for his 'angel' paintings, some of which use his children as models.
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Jessica is an 1890 painting by Dennis Miller Bunker in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It is considered one of Bunker's finest figure paintings, and has been described by art historian Theodore Stebbins as "among the most evocative" works of its time.
Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom: An Exposition of the Laws of Disguise Through Color and Pattern; Being a Summary of Abbott H. Thayer's Discoveries is a book published ostensibly by Gerald H. Thayer in 1909, and revised in 1918, but in fact a collaboration with and completion of his father Abbott Handerson Thayer's major work.
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Gladys Thayer (1886–1945) was an American painter and teacher.
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Emma Beach Thayer (1849-1924) was an American artist known for her floral paintings.
