Objects

Portrait of Mary Sophia Walker

1895Anna Elizabeth KlumpleAmerican, 1856-1942oil on canvas

Bequest of Miss Mary Sophia Walker

1904.3

In 1866 Mary Sophia Walker (1839–1904) and her younger sister Harriet Sarah Walker, at left, joined their bachelor uncle Theophilus Walker as residents of Gore Place, his estate built in 1806 in Waltham, Massachusetts. In the neoclassical brick villa, they were immersed in its symmetrical proportions, hemispherical spaces, and the quality of its light, derived from architectural principals of Roman buildings. Many of these classical elements would inspire the Walker Art Building’s design and ornamental details.  

—Laura Fecych Sprague

Collector
Mary Sophia Walker and Harriet Sarah Walker

Donors of the Walker Art Building as well as a significant collection of art and antiquities, Mary Sophia Walker (1839–1904) and Harriet Sarah Walker (1844–1898) were among the most significant benefactors in the development of the art collection at Bowdoin.

Related: Paintings 20
The Walker Art Building Murals
The Walker Art Building Murals 1894
Painting of an artist drawing a couple that stands under a large arch with ruins visible in the background.
The Arch of Titus George Healy 1871
Landscape painting with a column in the foreground by a body of water leading to ruins in the background. A sunny sky highlights the pastel palette.
Study for Desolation, from The Course of Empire Thomas Cole ca. 1833–1836
Painting of a Roman general bowing before a seated figure and a woman while a group of soldiers looks on. Smoke fills the sky from a distant battle.
The Continence of Scipio John Smibert ca. 1726
Alternate view of Painting of a nude woman reaching for a man who holds a spear and two leashed dogs while a cherub watches. A rainbow fills the sky above them.
Venus and Adonis Unknown Artist after 1804
Portrait of a Native American man with long black hair, draped in a blue sheet and posed in front of a tree with blue sky in the background.
Portrait of Reverend Samson Occom Nathaniel Smibert ca. 1751–1756
Portrait of a white-haired man wearing a black suit and sitting upright in a red armchair in front of a column.
Portrait of Thomas Jefferson Gilbert Stuart ca. 1805–1807
Portrait of a young James Bowdoin III wearting a blue suit, holding his finger in a book.
Portrait of James Bowdoin III Unknown Artist ca. 1771-1775
Painting of a man standing over a shrouded corpse while another man looks on, in the shadow of large Greek architectural ruins.
Landscape with Lofty Architectural Ruins Unknown Artist late 17th c. CE
Landscape painting of Greek architectural ruins overgrown with foliage. Two women in the foreground wash clothes in a river.
Landscape with Architectural Ruins Unknown Artist late 17th c. CE
Half-circle painting of a deity leaning on a statue, flanked by admirers. Surrounded by an ornately carved gold frame.
Athens John La Farge 1894
Half-circle painting of an angel standing with two cherubs while two figures kneel before her. Ornately carved gold frame reads "FLORENCE."
Florence Abbott Handerson Thayer 1894
Half-circle painting of a nude woman flanked by two winged women who draw nearby figures. Surrounded by an ornately carved gold frame.
Rome (The Art Idea) Elihu Vedder 1894
Half-circle painting of a seated woman flanked by two seated figures and a winged lion. Ornately carved gold frame reads "VENICE."
Venice Kenyon Cox 1894
Painting of the ruins of a Greek Doric temple with the ocean and mountains in the background.
Temple of Aphaea, Aegina John Rollin Tilton ca. 1870–1879
Portrait of Harriet Sarah Walker wearing a black dress and her hair pulled back, posed next to a blue vase with a mirror behind her.
Portrait of Harriet Sarah Walker Robert Gordon Hardie 1900
Landscape painting with ruins in its dark foreground extends back to a bright body of water and a mountain range on the horizon.
Sunset, View of Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples George Loring Brown 1864
Painting of a nude woman draped in satin sheets lounging under a tree. She holds a chalice and feeds herself grapes while a cherub frolics nearby.
Le Triomphe de L’Amour (The Triumph of Love) Charles Joseph Natoire ca. 1736
Painting of a partially nude woman draped in sheets looks forlorn as she leans against a tree with her arm around a sleeping cherub.
L’Amour Vaincu (Love Vanquished) Charles Joseph Natoire ca. 1736
Painting of a woman with auburn hair and wearing a cerulean blue toga sits by the water and plays a lyre. Oceanside cliffs decorate the background.
Portrait of Caroline Sanders Truax (Mrs. Charles H. Truax) as Sappho Jean-Léon Gérôme 1899