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Curator of American sculpture Thayer Tolles contemplates art created out of gratitude.
My name is Thayer Tolles, I'm a curator in the American Wing and my topic today is thank you.
Ever since I was young, manners have been beaten into me. I listened for years and years to my grandmother asking me
to hold the door open or telling me to hold the door open for her. In having children, I want them to understand that concept as well. When my kids were little I always used to laugh at the thank you notes we'd get from
birthday parties where it was literally fill in the blank like, "Dear fill in the blank. Thank you so much for the fill in the blank. It makes me feel fill in the blank."
I like how gratitude can be just the very simple gesture of saying "thank you" or something much larger.
Sometimes it seems to me that the "thank you" is disproportionate to the actual gift received. Frederick MacMonnies received fifty dollars from Charles McKim when he wanted to go to Paris to study. McKim received as a thank you gift
a life-size bronze sculpture, which to me seems really disproportionate in generosity.
I'm very interested in the stories that are associated with the objects that express gratitude. This piece, it's a little wacky in a sense because the patron had negotiated the engraver's release from prison after a scandal he had been involved in, so, when he got his feet on the ground this is what he did.
I think email thank you notes are now quite acceptable, but I actually really like getting a written thank you note in the mail, I mean who gets real mail anymore.
I really like this sampler done by a young girl, expressing thanks to the benefactress of this school. At this time, it was hard
for poor girls to get an education. I'm a knitter myself so I always joke that I'm knitting love into every stitch and maybe she was stitching gratitude.
There are a lot of presentation objects that are given from groups of people
to a single individual or by the maker to a client.
This tea urn was given to a Philadelphia doctor for helping citizens who were ravaged by yellow fever. I like how such a beautiful object comes out of this really awful event.
There is the issue of spirituality in thanks. There are objects that are really offerings, in hopes that something good will happen.
In the case of this torque or neck ring, it's fun to think of people casting these into the peat bogs where they thought that the gods would find them.
And then there are objects that they think that the gods could use. Here we have a sculpture who's offering objects to the gods, he's holding a dove. It's almost as if you see this whole act of thanks playing out.
A very interesting story is the case of Mary Cassatt's Lady at the Tea Table. She made this portrait because the Riddle family had given the Cassatt family this tea set as a gift, but this was a thank you gift that was rejected. As a matter of fact, the sitter's daughter thought
her mother's nose looked too big and gave the portrait back. I bet she had really good manners though, 'cause she certainly knew how to serve tea properly.
On the simplest level, "thank you" is a universal expression. Everyone at one point or another feels gratitude towards
a god, an individual, some good thing that's happened to them and
I'm just interested in the ways that people express thanks or gratitude.I'm not gonna beat anyone down for failing to thank me, but
I don't forget sometimes.
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Works of art in order of appearanceLast Updated: June 22, 2015. Not all works of art in the Museum's collection may be on view on a particular day. For the most accurate location information, please check this page on the day of your visit. |
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[Three Little Girls Having a Tea Party] 1920s Unknown Artist (American) Gelatin silver print Gift of Peter Oldenburg, 1976 (1976.600.3) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Madame Georges Charpentier (née Marguérite-Louise Lemonnier, 1848–1904) and Her Children, Georgette-Berthe (1872–1945) and Paul-Émile-Charles (1875–1895) 1878 Auguste Renoir (French) Oil on canvas Signed and dated (lower right): Renoir. 78. Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund, 1907 (07.122) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Anna's Birthday Party 1896 Julius Goldschmidt (American) Albumen silver print Gift of Peter Oldenburg, 1976 (1976.600.9) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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[Metal Sign: "THANK YOU"] 1973–74 Walker Evans (American) Instant color print Purchase, Samuel J. Wagstaff Jr. Bequest and Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1994 (1994.245.62) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Bacchante and Infant Faun 1893–94; this cast 1894 Frederick William MacMonnies (American) Bronze Gift of Charles F. McKim, 1897 (97.19) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Portrait of Pietro Aretino (probably after a design by Sebastiano del Piombo) ca. 1517–20 or 1524–25 Marcantonio Raimondi (Italian) Engraving Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1917 (17.50.40) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Leaf of divani calligraphy dated 1075 A.H./1644 a.d.; Ottoman Signed by Khwaja Turkey Ink on paper Purchase, Richard S. Perkins Gift, 1986 (1986.216.1) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Sampler December 23, 1813 Charlotte Gardner (American) Silk on linen Purchase, Anna Glen B. Vietor Gift, in memory of her husband, Alexander Orr Vietor, 2009 (2009.413) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Pair of vases 1824 and 1825 Thomas Fletcher (American) and Sidney Gardiner (American) Silver Purchase, Sansbury-Mills Fund and Frank P. Stetz Gift, 2009 (2009.420.2) Gift of the Erving and Joyce Wolf Foundation, 1988 (1988.199) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Bowl 1888 Tiffany & Co. (American) New York City, New York Silver and silver gilt Purchase, Cranshaw Corporation Gift, 2004 (2004.273) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Tea or hot water urn 1799 John McMullin (American) Silver with ivory handle Purchase, Sansbury-Mills Fund and Frank P. Stetz Gift, 2009 (2009.420.2) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Ritual Vessel (Paccha) 15th–early 16th century Peru; Inka Ceramic The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.1149) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Torque (Neck Ring) ca. 600 b.c.; Late Bronze Age Scandinavian Copper alloy Purchase, Nathaniel Spear Jr. Gift, 1987 (1987.395) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Statue of a bearded man with votive offerings ca. 475–450 b.c.; Classical Cypriot; Said to be from the temple at Golgoi Limestone The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76 (74.51.2461) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Lady at the Tea Table 1883–85 Mary Cassatt (American) Oil on canvas Gift of Mary Cassatt, 1923 (23.101) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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Mrs. Chase in Prospect Park 1886 William Merritt Chase (American) Oil on panel The Chester Dale Collection, Bequest of Chester Dale, 1962 (63.138.2) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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The Cup of Tea ca. 1879 Mary Cassatt (American) Oil on canvas From the Collection of James Stillman, Gift of Dr. Ernest G. Stillman, 1922 (22.16.17) More information: The Collection Online Not on view
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