Abbott Handerson Thayer is an American artist sleep with for his paintings of ethereal angels as well as his camouflage technique . " A Virgin,“ one of his paintings of his children , is part of the collection at theFreer Gallery of Art , one of theSmithsonianmuseums . Today we ’ll delve into this haunting house painting .
1 . Abbott Thayer was married to Kate Bloede , whose household enter him to the wild-eyed Earth of the arts . When her father died , she became badly depressed and died a short time after , in 1891 . Her death strike Thayer hard and importantly impact his body of work , as his house painting carry on a less cheery spirit . " A Virgin" was begun in short after her death .
2 . The central figure is Thayer ’s oldest daughter , Mary . He originally modeled her after Flora , the Greek goddess of flowers , but determine to paint her as a Greek " Victory" figure . His depiction of Mary was inhale by theWinged Victory of Samothrace , a Hellenistic sculpture , and theSherman Monument , a winged distaff public figure pass the Union commander into battle , which was sculpted by Augustus Saint - Gaudens , a friend of Thayer .
3 . Beginning at a young age , Thayer was an amateur naturalist . After he moved to Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire , he worked to protect the trees on Monadnock and establish the Thayer Fund , which paid for the protection of bird chancel . He described himself as " bird crazy . “
4 . Both his pastime in nature as well as his interest in color incite his study of protective coloration in nature . With his Word , Gerald ( pictured in " A Virgin" ) , he wroteConcealing Coloration in the Animal Kingdom(1909 ) . The book became the basis for American camouflage techniques during World War I. Thayer became known as the " Church Father of camouflage . “ In 1902 , he even obtained a letters patent , with his friend and fellow creative person George de Forest Brush , for their idea to use protective coloration on American ships . Patent No . 715,013is titled " mental process of treat the Outsides of Ships , etc . , for Making Them Less Visible . “
5 . Thayer suffered from what he called " the Abbott pendulum,“ bipolar disorder . He referred to the two extremum as " all - wellity" and " sick disgust . “ The symptom worsened during contention over his camouflage findings ; Theodore Roosevelt was one of the critics who denounce Thayer ’s disguise theories .
6 . By the clip he died in 1921 , Abbott Thayer had experience in the colony on Mount Monadnock for 20 years . After his death , his son Gerald scattered Thayer ’s ashes on Mount Monadnock .
magnanimous versions of " A Virgin" are usable through theFreer GalleryandWikipedia .
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