Brother and Sister (Mary and Gerald Thayer)

Brother and Sister (Mary and Gerald Thayer)

Abbott Handerson Thayer, 1889

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Artist: Abbott Handerson Thayer (American, 1849–1921)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 36 1/4 x 28 1/4 in. (92 x 71.9 cm)
Museum: Smithsonian Institution
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

This work portrays Abbott Thayer's children one year after their mother's hospitalization for "melancholia," or severe depression. Kate Thayer became physically ill while hospitalized, and Thayer wrote to a friend that her physical deterioration would not be so horrible "were her soul visible" (Anderson, Abbott Handerson Thayer, 1982).

Thayer captured the sadness and worry of this difficult period in Mary's heavy-lidded, watery eyes and in Gerald’s searching expression. They look like a modern-day Madonna and Child. Their mother would live for two more years, but in this portrait it is as if Mary has already taken on her mother's role in the family. After Kate died, Thayer clung to his children as an emotional anchor, and he often depicted them as sacred figures.

More by Abbott Handerson Thayer

Stevenson Memorial

Stevenson Memorial

Abbott Handerson Thayer, 1903

My Children

Abbott Handerson Thayer, c. 1896–1910

Cornish Headlands

Cornish Headlands

Abbott Handerson Thayer, 1898

Angel

Abbott Handerson Thayer, 1887

Seascape

Abbott Handerson Thayer

Half Draped Figure

Half Draped Figure

Abbott Handerson Thayer, ca. 1885

Winged Figure

Abbott Handerson Thayer, 1889

My Children (Mary, Gerald, and Gladys Thayer)

My Children (Mary, Gerald, and Gladys Thayer)

Abbott Handerson Thayer, ca. 1897

A Virgin

Abbott Handerson Thayer, 1890s

Girl Arranging Her Hair

Girl Arranging Her Hair

Abbott Handerson Thayer, 1918-1919

Mount Monadnock

Mount Monadnock

Abbott Handerson Thayer, probably 1911/1914

Sunrise or Sunset, study for book, Concealing Coloration in the Animal Kingdom

Sunrise or Sunset, study for book, Concealing Coloration in the Animal Kingdom

Abbott Handerson Thayer, ca. 1905-1909

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