Diana

Maker(s)
Artist: Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849-1921)
Historical period(s)
1893-96
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
H x W: 124 x 76.1 cm (48 13/16 x 29 15/16 in)
Geography
United States
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1906.97a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Oil painting

Keywords
portrait, United States
Provenance

From 1906 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Abbott Handerson Thayer in the spring of 1906 [1]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]

Notes:

[1] Object file.

[2] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Abbott Handerson Thayer (C.L. Freer source) 1849-1921
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Label

Thayer originally painted his model, Clara May, in a green velvet dress, but he changed her garment to a Greek chiton. By linking the picture to the past, he elevated the "reality" of an American girl to the "ideal" of a timeless classical sculpture.

Published References
  • Martha Banta. Imaging American Women: Ideas and Ideals in Cultural History. New York, 1987. fig. 9.21.
  • Mary Ellen Hayward. The Influence of the Classical Oriental Tradition. vol. 14, no. 2 Chicago, Summer 1979. fig. 27.
  • Nina Gray, Suzanne Smeaton. Within Gilded Borders: The Frames of Stanford White. vol. 7, no. 2 Washington, Spring 1993. p. 41, fig. 13.
Collection Area(s)
American Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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