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My Children (Mary, Gerald, and Gladys Thayer)
1893–1897
oil
219.1 x 155.1 cm
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly
My Children is the first version of a memorial to the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson. Thayer posed his children as he had in Virgin Enthroned. Mary holds a wreath, the traditional symbol for fame. Although the painting may appear to be unfinished, Thayer signed it and inscribed it "never to be retouched, not one pinpoint."