John La Farge; Meditation of Kuwannon; ca. 1886; watercolor on off-white wove paper; 15 in. x 9 3/4 in. (38.1 cm x 24.77 cm); In 1886; John La Farge received an invitation from Augustus Saint-Gaudens to accompany the sculptor to Japan; where he planned to conduct research for a commission from writer Henry Adams to construct a memorial to Adams's recently deceased wife; Marian 'Clover' Hooper Adams; a Washington-based amateur photographer and the inspiration for Henry James's 'The Portrait of a Lady.' La Farge paused his design work on the interior of Henry Hobson Richardson's Trinity Church in Boston and joined Saint-Gaudens in Japan. Both artists found inspiration in Kuwannon; the Buddhist goddess of compassion. This watercolor is one of many that La Farge painted of Kuwannon; representations of which served as the basis for Saint-Gaudens's famous Adams Memorial. Acquired through the bequest of Mary Sophia Walker in 1904; this was part of a donation from the Walker sisters that; along with a previous gift made in 1894; formed the foundation of the College's watercolor collection.