In this column, “The Masters’ Thread” (ept.ms/mastersthread), artists share their thoughts about how one master’s piece inspires their current work.
Although many artists, both living and deceased, push us to see and paint differently, there is often one old master who sets up permanent residence in our minds, silently critiquing us and pushing us to improve. Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849–1921) is my greatest source of inspiration.
Thayer was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1849. As a child, he was enthralled by nature. He was particularly fond of birds, and even experimented with taxidermy. This passion followed him throughout his life and worked its way into his figurative work. In 1887, Thayer completed “Angel.” The painting features his daughter Mary, standing before a set of wings nailed to a board—Thayer’s way of achieving the illusion of an angelic figure.
Thayer is quoted as saying:
“Doubtless my lifelong passion for birds has helped to incline me to work wings into my pictures; but primarily I have put on wings probably more to symbolize an exalted atmosphere (above the realm of genre painting) where one need not explain the action of the figures.”
