Hebe (c. 1890): Art, History and Details

Hebe (c. 1890) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Abbott Handerson Thayer (American, 1849–1921).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Albert Handerson Thayer often kept his paintings in his studio, sporadically revising them over extended periods of time. A number of his compositions appear to be only partially completed, as is the case with Hebe. When asked about this painting, the artist replied, "Like most artists, I suppose, I allow a good many of my picture-undertakings to get sidetracked before they are done, with the result, off and on, that they get sold unfinished to some one who values enough what there already is in them."

Object facts

• Title: Hebe
• Date: c. 1890
• Creator attribution: Abbott Handerson Thayer (American, 1849–1921)
• Culture: America
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Unframed: 117 x 75 cm (46 1/16 x 29 1/2 in.)
• Collection: American - Painting
• Department: American Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1918.172

A detail from the museum

According to Greek mythology, Hebe is a goddess of youth and a cupbearer to the gods on Mount Olympus.

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. Ralph King Collection, in memory of William Macbeth

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of the Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition : June Twenty-Sixth to October Fourth 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: [Cleveland Museum of Art], 1936.
• Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of an Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today at the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: [Printed by the Artcraft Printing Co.], 1937.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.