Harvard Art Museums > 1994.51: Miss May Sarton (1912-1995) Paintings Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Miss May Sarton (1912-1995) (Polly Thayer) , 1994.51,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Nov 22, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/226970. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. 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 The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. 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