Artist:

Abbott Handerson Thayer, born Boston, MA 1849-died Dublin, NH 1921  Search this

Medium:

oil on canvas

Dimensions:

38 1/8 x 53 3/4 in. (96.7 x 136.4 cm)

Type:

Painting

Date:

ca. 1894

Luce Center Label:

In 1894, Abbott Thayer won a commission to create a large mosaic panel of the goddess Minerva for the Library of Congress, and he painted this oil sketch before executing the final version in glass. He was to receive $4000 for the completed project, but engineers and architects at the library quickly grew frustrated with Thayer’s unwillingness to comply with their instructions. After years of argument, the commission was given to another prominent muralist, Elihu Vedder. His Minerva now presides over the landing of what was once the library’s main staircase. (Cartwright, “Reading Rooms: Interpreting the American Public Library Mural, 1890-1930,” PhD diss., Univ. Michigan, 1994)

Topic:

Dress\historic\classical dress  Search this

Animal\horse  Search this

Figure female\full length  Search this

Mythology\classical\Minerva  Search this

Travel\land\chariot  Search this

Credit Line:

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly

Object number:

1929.6.121

Restrictions & Rights:

CC0

See more items in:

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

Department:

Painting and Sculpture

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk71a3d43b3-d72d-4894-9d3c-f1ce45f21d4e

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:saam_1929.6.121