Townsend Bradley Martin

Abbott Handerson Thayer, Townsend Bradley Martin, 1919, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Grosvenor Backus, 1950.11.14
Copied Abbott Handerson Thayer, Townsend Bradley Martin, 1919, oil on canvas, 27 5⁄8 x 21 3⁄4 in. (70.1 x 55.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Grosvenor Backus, 1950.11.14
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Artwork Details

Title
Townsend Bradley Martin
Artist
Date
1919
Location
Dimensions
27 5⁄8 x 21 3⁄4 in. (70.1 x 55.2 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Grosvenor Backus
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Keywords
  • Portrait male — Martin, Townsend Bradley — child
Object Number
1950.11.14
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1950.11.14

Artwork Description

Townsend Bradley Martin was the grandson of Henry Phipps, the business partner of steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. In this portrait sketch of the young boy in a garden, Townsend’s shirt nearly disappears in the foliage. Abbott Thayer was fascinated with natural history, and he developed a theory of natural camouflage that is obvious in his paintings of animals but often creeps into his portraits as well. (Nemerov, “Vanishing Americans: Abbott Thayer, Theodore Roosevelt, and the Attraction of Camouflage,” American Art, Summer 1997)