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Abbott Handerson Thayer, Portrait of a Woman (Miss Gertrude Bloede), ca. 1881, oil on canvas, 16 5⁄8 x 14 in. (42.2 x 35.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.125
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Portrait of a Woman (Miss Gertrude Bloede)
- Artist
- Date
- ca. 1881
- Location
- Dimensions
- 16 5⁄8 x 14 in. (42.2 x 35.7 cm)
- Markings
- lower right in oil incised: Abbott H. Thayer (written on an angle) frame verso upper right and lower left in acrylic: 29.6.125.G. (line drawing of stylized face) stretcher verso upper left in acrylic: 29.6.125.G.
- Credit Line
- Gift of John Gellatly
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on canvas
- Keywords
- Portrait
- Portrait female — Bloede, Gertrude, Miss — bust
- Object Number
- 1929.6.125
Artwork Description
Gertrude Bloede was the sister of Abbott Thayer’s first wife, Kate. The Bloedes were German immigrants who lived in Brooklyn and regularly entertained a circle of intellectuals. Both daughters were highly creative and independent: Kate was an artist, and Gertrude was a noted writer who published her romantic poetry under the pseudonym Stuart Sterne. In this portrait sketch, Thayer gave his sister-in-law a faraway look, as though she were lost in thought, perhaps composing a poem.
Luce Object Quote
“About her head or floating feet/No halo’s starry gleam/Still dark and swift uprising, like/A bubble in a stream.” Stuart Sterne, “My Father’s Child,” reprinted in Stedman, ed., An American Anthology, 1787–1900, 1900