Winged Figure

1889

Originally a painter of animals, Abbott Handerson Thayer created portraits and allegorical figures like Winged Figure after training in Paris. The artist wrote of his many seraphic subjects, “I have put on wings probably more to symbolize an exalted atmosphere . . . where one need not explain the action of his figures.” Thayer mixed this idealism with naturalism, individualizing the woman’s features and giving her a sense of mass and gravity.

Public domain · CC0
Free to download and reuse. Image courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.

Artist

Abbott Handerson Thayer (American, 1849–1921)

Date

1889

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

130.8 × 95.9 cm (51 1/2 × 37 3/4 in.)

Origin

United States

Collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Credit

Simeon B. Williams Fund