Polly Thayer Starr facts for kids
Polly Thayer (Starr) (1904–2006) was a talented artist from Boston. She was known for her paintings and pastel drawings. When she was young, she became famous for her portraits. She also painted people in the style of the Boston School. Later, she started using a more Modernist style. As her career grew, she loved showing the hidden feelings of nature. This included landscapes, flowers, and animals. People admired her amazing drawing skills.
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Polly Thayer's Life Story
Her Family and Names
Polly Thayer was born Ethel Randolph Thayer. Her mother was also named Ethel. Her father, Ezra Ripley Thayer, was a dean at Harvard Law School. Her grandfather, James Bradley Thayer, was a famous legal scholar. Her family was very smart and loved exact details. But Polly also had a spiritual side. This came from her ancestors, like Ralph Waldo Emerson, who were Transcendentalists.
Even though her birth name was Ethel, everyone called her Polly since she was a child. By the late 1920s, she signed her artwork "Polly Thayer." She kept using this name even after she married. In 1967, she legally changed her name to Polly Thayer Starr. Later in her career, she identified herself as Polly Thayer (Starr). However, she never used this longer name as her signature.
How Polly Thayer Studied Art
Polly went to the Winsor School in Boston. She showed a talent for drawing very early on. Her mother helped her by arranging art lessons. Polly studied with Beatrice Van Ness after school. Beatrice had learned from famous artists like Benson and Tarbell. Later, Polly went to Westover School in Connecticut. After graduating, she traveled to Asia with her mother and brother. There, she saw the huge Great Kantō earthquake in 1923. She felt this event changed how she saw life.
In the autumn of that year, Polly joined the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She studied drawing and portrait painting there. After about a year and a half, she left to study privately. While learning, she painted a large artwork called Circles. In 1929, this painting won a special award. She also studied with Charles W. Hawthorne in 1924. He taught outdoor classes and helped her use brighter colors.
In 1930, Polly traveled to Spain. She was encouraged by a writer named Royal Cortissoz. He told her that copying art in the Prado Museum was like learning from many masters. She loved the artist Goya. Then, she continued her studies in France. She rented a studio in Paris and took drawing classes. In later years, she studied with other artists. These included Harry Wickey, Jean Despujols, Carl Nelson, and Hans Hofmann.
Art Shows and Exhibitions
Polly Thayer had her first solo art show in Boston in 1930. It was a big success. A newspaper reviewer said she was one of the best painters in the country. This show led to eighteen portrait commissions. She showed many of these portraits in New York the next year. Other galleries also featured her solo shows. These included galleries in Philadelphia and New York. In Boston, her work was shown at many places. These included the Guild of Boston Artists and the Boston Public Library. Later in her life, she worked closely with Vose Galleries.
In 2001, Polly was the only living artist in a special exhibition. It was called "A Studio of Her Own" at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. A large banner of her portrait of May Sarton hung over the museum's entrance.
Her Social and Spiritual Life
Polly worried for many years about how marriage would affect her art. But in 1933, she married Donald C. Starr in Italy. He was a lawyer, sportsman, and musician. They met while he was sailing around the world. Polly herself did not enjoy sailing much. A few years later, after two weeks at sea, she asked to be dropped off in Connecticut. She saw the land in a new way. She started painting landscapes. These paintings had a fresh, natural feel. Around the same time, she painted a portrait of May Sarton. This showed her new freedom in art.
The Starrs had two daughters, Victoria and Dinah. Victoria was born in 1940. In 1942, Polly joined the Society of Friends (Quakers). This became a very important part of her life. She was active in many good causes. These included education, charity, and culture. She especially cared about peace and non-violence. She also joined clubs to discuss current topics. She even made small sketches during these meetings.
Polly had help with her household duties. But she didn't like spending time on organizing or promoting her art. A historian noted that her art career seemed to slow down. This was due to raising children and her interest in social causes. However, this didn't mean she stopped painting. She had six solo exhibitions after her first child was born. She continued painting portraits. She also explored landscapes, flowers, and animals, especially cats. She always tried to show their true nature. She believed she could only understand things by seeing their visible and invisible reality.
Early in her career, she worked in Boston during winters. In summers, she worked at Weir River Farm in Hingham.
Later Years and Vision
Polly was always fascinated by how we see things. In 1981, she wrote an essay called "On Seeing." She kept working on this paper until she was 97. Around the same time, she learned she had glaucoma. Later, she also developed macular degeneration. As her eyesight weakened, she focused on beautiful pastels of gladiolas with bees. She also drew abstract cyclamen flowers on black paper. She made delicate graphite drawings of thistles. In 1992, she finished her last major work. It was a charcoal self-portrait. One side of her face was bright, and the other was dark. After she could no longer paint, her work was recognized in eleven solo exhibitions before she passed away in 2006.
Notable Artworks
- In Polly Thayer's self-portrait The Algerian Tunic (around 1927), she looks right at you. She holds her brush, ready to paint. Polly's curiosity led her to try modern art styles later on. She moved away from the older ways of many Boston painters.
- A critic from the Boston Globe talked about her painting Shopping for Furs. He said the face of the woman in the painting was unique. It showed self-control, tiredness, and a wish for freedom all at once. Her hat and dangling hand also showed a cool, carefree attitude.