Stevenson Memorial
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly
Accession Number
1929.6.127
Tags
About this artwork
Apart from the title, our only clue to the subject of this work is the inscription "VAEA," the name of the mountain in Samoa where Robert Louis Stevenson is buried. Stevenson's poetic tales of men at war with themselves had dazzled Abbott Handerson Thayer, whose own life was marked by exaltation and despair. And, like the Scotsman's most memorable characters, the Stevenson Memorial carries a hidden story.
Art Historical Context
Abbott Handerson Thayer's *Stevenson Memorial* (1903) is a poignant oil painting housed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, gifted by John Gellatly. The title honors Robert Louis Stevenson, the beloved Scottish author of adventure tales like *Treasure Island* and *Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde*. A key clue lies in the inscription "VAEA," naming the Samoan mountain where Stevenson was buried in 1894, overlooking the Pacific he so evocatively described. Thayer, an American painter known for his ethereal figures and studies in natural camouflage, created this work amid his own turbulent life of art...