"Caritas by A.H. Thayer" 9 x 6 pen, ink, warm gray #Inktober

Spent some time at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts for my birthday yesterday.  I am a fan of Abbot Handerson Thayer, and spent some time studying this painting "Caritas", which the MFA purchased from Thayer in 1897.  My research tells me it may have a relationship to some of the images in a mural he was commissioned to paint at Bowdoin College.  I'll have to get up there to see that.  I love the romanticism of the figures, the clothing, and the sumptuous renaissance framing which is an art in itself.  The clothing reminds me of the "one Grecian Urn" scene from "The Music Man" with Hermione Gingold leading her women's group in a modern dance.  Here is a brief link to that iconic scene.    

I remember visiting Washington DC a number of years ago.  The National Art Gallery was under construction, so a subset of the work was hung, salon style, in the Renwick Gallery.  I stopped in my tracks in front of a painting of roses, and it was Abbott Handerson Thayer's work.  

 Look at it here... wow!!!!  The edges, control of values.  
So, spending part of my birthday studying paintings was a great joy.  
My 22nd entry for #Inktober is a value study of "Caritas".  Thanks for reading and for looking.