National Museum of American Art Washington, D.C. (202) 633-8998 Abbott Thayer: The Nature of Art Abbott Thayer: The Nature of Art, a major exhibition celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849-1921), opened April 23, 1999 at the Smithsonian's Museum of American Art. The exhibition -- the first in 30 years to examine the work of this influential figure in ...

ABBOTT HANDERSON THAYER 1849-1921 Meditation, 1903 Oil on canvas, 24 x 19 (60.96 x 48.26 cm.) Signed, upper right Museum purchase, 922-0-107 Painted in the twilight of his career, Meditation epitomized Abbott Thayer's search for moral truth, which he believed could be divined through the earnest contemplation of a beautiful female. Thayer, from a prominent New England family, studied art in ...