Existing comment:
Abbott Handerson Thayer, 1849-1921
Completed a year before his death, Abbott Handerson Thayer's darkly dramatic self-portrait is one of several that he created at the end of his life. According to scholar Kevin Murphy, Thayer's need to protect -- from guarding his own children to caring for the environment in his home state of New Hampshire -- was a guiding force for the artist. Thayer is best known for his landscapes and paint- ings of ideal women and winged angels, but he spent many years studying natural science and theo- ries of evolution. He developed ideas about camou- flage and visual protection in the natural world and co-authored a book with his son Gerald entitled Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom (1909). These ideas informed his approach to painting as well, for as in this portrait, he often used the paint- erly surface of his work, with its dark coloration and sense of insubstantiality, to hide elements of the figure.
Oil on plywood panel, 1920 |