"Ever since I was young, manners have been beaten into me. I listened for years and years to my grandmother telling me to hold the door open."
Curator of American sculpture Thayer Tolles contemplates art created out of gratitude.
Connections: Thank You
Curator of American sculpture Thayer Tolles contemplates art created out of gratitude.
Thayer Tolles
4 min. watch
Contributors
Thayer Tolles
Marica F. Vilcek Curator of American Painting and Sculpture, The American Wing
Marica F. Vilcek Curator of American Painting and Sculpture, The American Wing
More from The Met
Discover how Wilson’s illustrations for children’s literature emphasized the importance of representation.
Jeary Payne and Jason Reynolds
January 22
The author of After Sappho offers a queer feminist reading of Eve and the serpent, reimagining sin as likeness, desire, and bodies transcending gender and species.
Selby Wynn Schwartz
January 9
Author Leena Krohn reflects on Helene Schjerfbeck’s portrait of Sigrid Nyberg.
Leena Krohn
December 18, 2025
Art Mentioned
A slider containing 16 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Thomas Fletcher
Sidney Gardiner
1825
Mary Cassatt
1883–85
William Merritt Chase
1886
Frederick William MacMonnies
Thiébaut frères
1893–94, cast 1894
Tiffany & Co.
1888
John McMullin
1799
Charlotte Gardner
December 23, 1813
Cypriot
ca. 475–450 BCE
Unknown
1920s
Julius Goldschmidt
1896
Walker Evans
1973–74
Inca artist(s)
1400–1535 CE
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1517–20
Auguste Renoir
1878
dated 1075 AH/1664–65 CE
Scandinavian
600 BCE