Boston-born Abbott Handerson Thayer, the son of a country doctor, spent his childhood in rural New Hampshire, at the foot of Mount Monadnock. In that rural setting, he became an amateur naturalist & began copying Audubons bird images. Life became all but unbearable for Thayer & his wife during the early 1880s, when 2 of their small children died unexpectedly, just 1 year apart. Emotionally devastated, they spent the next several years restlessly moving from place to place. However, during that period of unrest, Thayers growing reputation resulted in more portrait commissions than he could accept. Among his sitters were Mark Twain & Henry James, but the subjects of many of his paintings were their 3 remaining Thayer children - Mary, Gerald & Gladys. He & his wife finally decided to make their home permanently in Dublin, New Hampshire, where they had often vacationed & where Thayer had grown up. Shortly after moving the family & settling in, Mrs. Thayer’s father died; & she lapsed into an irreversible depression, which caused her confinement in an asylum, the decline of her health, & eventual death in 1891. Thayer soon married long-time family friend, Emma Beach, whose father owned The New York Sun. He & his second wife spent their remaining years in rural New Hampshire, living simply & working productively. Eccentric & opinionated, Thayer grew more so as he aged, & his familys manner of living reflected his strong beliefs. The Thayers typically slept outdoors year-round in order to enjoy the benefits of fresh air, & the 3 children were never enrolled in a school. It seemed to work for them, as the younger 2, Gerald & Gladys, became painters. Anyways, I admire his art greatly.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 23:35:07 +0000
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