The Art and Life of Abbott Handerson Thayer

Angel

The Virgin

Winged Figure

Portrait of Raphael Welles Pumpelly

Noon

Girl Arranging Hair

I thought I would share one of my favorite artists with you. His name is Abbott Handerson Thayer. I am sure many of you have seen his work. The American Art Museum in Washington DC has quite a few of his paintings.

Abbott Handerson Thayer was born in Boston to a country doctor and his wife. He became quite fascinated with nature and considered himself a naturalists. He studied James Audubon's bird paintings and spent a considerable time practicing painting the barn life at home. He attended art school in New york and Paris. Came home and married. He settled in New Hampshire.

Life was good. He set up a portrait studio and painted Mark Twain, Henry James and others. Then two of his precious children died within a year of each other. His wife and the three remaining children became nomads for a while.

Abbott Handerson Thayer was probably so stressed at this time that his bi polar disorder became more than just an occasional oddity. He began to suffer from anxiety attacks which he called "frightful fits". Slowly life got back on track. His first wife died and he remarried. He often painted the girl they hired to help with the children and chores. He opened a new studio and also began to teach.

He was known for his beautiful wings in his paintings. They were thought to be almost life like. I am sure his study of nature had a lot to do with that. He also used his three children - Mary, Gerald and Glady's - in his paintings. You can see all three in his painting the Virgin. Also Mary is one of his winged angels. Glady's also became a painter when she grew up.

The thing that he is also noted for is camouflage. They call him the father of camouflage. He studied how animals and birds used there coloring to hide from predators and to help the hunt. He helped his son write the first book on this subject. They were known to "paint" their clothes to study animals and birds.

I am drawn to the rich colors that are sometimes muted, the soulful eyes of his models, and the lovely landscapes he uses as his backgrounds. I hope you enjoy his paintings.