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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1994.51
People
Polly Thayer, American (Boston, Mass. 1904 - 2006 Lexington, Massachusetts)
Title
Miss May Sarton (1912-1995)
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
1936
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/226970

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
63.5 × 53.3 cm (25 × 21 in.)
framed: 92.2 × 82.2 × 3.8 cm (36 5/16 × 32 3/8 × 1 1/2 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: u.r.: Polly Thayer 36

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Polly Thayer (Mrs. Donald Carter) Starr, sold; to Paul J. Sachs, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1937, gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 1994.

NOTE: Sachs lent the work to May Sarton from the time of his purchase until 1994, with the stipulation that it be given to the HUAM eventually.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Paul J. Sachs through Polly Thayer Starr and May Sarton
Copyright
© Polly Thayer Starr Charitable Trust
Accession Year
1994
Object Number
1994.51
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Earl S. Johnston, "Lauds Exhibit of Two Artists Here", The Patriot [Harrisburg] (Harrisburg PA, December 9, 1936)
  • "Portraits by Polly Thayer at Philadelphia Art Alliance", Philadelphia Inquirer (November 8, 1936)
  • A. Z. Kruse, "At the Art Galleries", Brooklyn (NY) Eagle (November 16, 1941)
  • Rosamund Frost, "Polly Thayer", Art News (November 15, 1941 - November 30, 1941)
  • Timothy Anglin Burgard, "Polly Thayer and May Sarton: Portrait of the Artists as Young Women", Review / Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, Spring 1994), ill. p. 9
  • Erica E. Hirshler, A Studio of Her Own: Women Artists in Boston 1870-1940, exh. cat., MFA Publications (Boston, MA, 2001), pl. 82
  • Judith A. Curtis, Polly Thayer Starr (1904-2006) & the Alchemy of Painting, exh. cat., Rockport Art Association & Museum (Rockport, MA, 2017), p. 34, fig. 15, ill. (color)
  • Robyn Asleson, Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900-1939, exh. cat., Yale University Press and National Portrait Gallery (Washington D.C., 2024), p. 149, ill. (color)

Exhibition History

  • Portraits by Polly Thayer, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, 11/02/1936 - 11/15/1936
  • Polly Thayer, Harrisburg Art Association, Harrisburg, 12/07/1936 - 12/13/1936
  • Polly Thayer (The 1941 Burton Emmett Memorial Exhibition), Contemporary Arts Gallery (NY), New York, 11/01/1941 - 12/01/1941
  • The Persistence of Memory: Continuity and Change in American Cultures, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/29/1995 - 05/13/2001
  • Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900-1939, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, 04/26/2024 - 02/23/2025; Speed Art Museum, 03/29/2025 - 06/22/2025; Georgia Museum of Art, 07/19/2025 - 10/12/2025

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu