Sketch of Monadnock Mountain

1897

Abbott Handerson Thayer American, 1849 - 1921

On View

American, Level 2, West Wing

Image Only Image + Details All Images High Resolution TIFF Metadata

About the Artwork

Please note: This section is empty
Markings

Please note: This section is empty

This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Catalogue Raisonné

Please note: This section is empty

A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.
Credit Line for Reproduction

Please note: This section is empty

The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.

About the Artwork

In the summer of 1887, Abbott Handerson Thayer returned to the southwest New Hampshire town of Keene, where he had spent his childhood, to teach painting. One of his students, Mary Armory Green, offered to build a cottage and a studio for him on her property in nearby Dublin. Thayer and his family summered there until 1901, when they took up permanent residence. The move from Keene to Dublin brought Thayer closer to Mount Monadnock. Not only had Thayer known the compelling vista from his youth, as an adult he had embraced the transcendentalist philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote of climbing the mountain. The panoramic view from the summit revealed the vast potential of the physical world. Thayer painted the mountain at least fifteen times—this oil sketch, boldly colored and vigorously painted, was one of his earliest—seeing in its solitary grandeur a powerful metaphor for self-reliance. From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)

Title Sketch of Monadnock Mountain

Artwork Date 1897

Artist Abbott Handerson Thayer

Life Dates 1849 - 1921

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Overall: 22 × 27 inches (55.9 × 68.6 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department American Art before 1950

Credit Museum Purchase, Funds from Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund and Dexter M. Ferry Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2014.9

Markings

Signed Signed and dated, lower right: Abbot H. Thayer 1897

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

Mary Amory Greene. 1999, Auction, Western Massachusetts. Thomas Colville Fine Art. 2000, Dr. and Mrs. Francis de Marneffe. 2014-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Exhibition of Paintings by Abbott H. Thayer. Exh. cat., Carnegie Institute. Pittsburgh, 1919, no. 38.

Hobbs, Susan. "Nature into Art: The Landscapes of Abbott Handerson Thayer." American Art Journal 14, 3 (Summer 1982).

Merrill, Linda."The American Renaissance." Freer: A Legacy of Art. Washington, D.C., 1992.

The Magazine Antiques 157 (April 2000): p. 523.

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

Please note: This section is empty

Credit Line for Reproduction

Abbott Handerson Thayer, Sketch of Monadnock Mountain, 1897, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Funds from Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund and Dexter M. Ferry Fund, 2014.9.