Anthony Thieme

Although born in Rotterdam, Holland, Anthony Thieme is best remembered for his harbor scenes and townscapes of the Cape Ann region of Massachusetts. This charming scene of Rockport, Massachusetts’ South Street, where the artist’s home was located, demonstrates his talent for capturing the vivid colors of autumn in New England and the glow of sunlight filtering through the trees. Thieme’s interest in the ocean was cultivated while he was just a young boy attending a naval military school. In 1902, against his parents’ wishes, he began studying painting at the Royal Academy in Holland, pursuing his growing interest in fine art. His training continued in Germany in 1904, where he studied with German set designer George Hacker, and in Italy at the Scuola di Belli Arti, where he was influenced by architecture and scenery paintings. Thieme immigrated to the United States at age 22 and began working as a set designer for the Century Theater Company in New York City. After traveling for a few years he settled in Boston and found employment with the Copley Theater. The Grace Horn Galleries hosted Thieme’s first solo exhibition in 1928, and in that same fortuitous year he won a prize from the North Shore Arts Association for a landscape painting.