A Bride

Abbott Handerson Thayer, A Bride, ca. 1895, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.111
Copied Abbott Handerson Thayer, A Bride, ca. 1895, oil on canvas, 21 x 17 1⁄8 in. (53.3 x 43.4 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.111
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Artwork Details

Title
A Bride
Artist
Date
ca. 1895
Location
Dimensions
21 x 17 1⁄8 in. (53.3 x 43.4 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of John Gellatly
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Keywords
  • Study
  • Figure female — full length
  • Dress — ceremonial — wedding dress
Object Number
1929.6.111
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1929.6.111

Artwork Description

Abbott Thayer painted this study for a large society portrait of Alice Maude Allen Atwater of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He sketched her from life and focused on the details of her face and her general pose. But in the finished version, which he made in his studio, he lavished attention on the bride's gown of Japanese gold cloth with a Belgian rose-point lace bodice. Years later the dress remained in his mind, but when asked who the bride was, he had trouble remembering. (Prelinger, American Impressionism: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2000)

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