Pont des Arts1908-1911
H. Lyman Saÿen painted this in 1908-1911, aged about 33. It is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. More about this work
About this work
H. Lyman Saÿen painted this in 1908-1911, aged about 33. It is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.
How it was made
- Oil on panel
- Oil paint on prepared wooden boards, usually oak in the north and poplar in Italy. The rigid, smooth surface suits fine detail and thin, glowing glazes.
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
H. Lyman Saÿen
born Philadelphia, PA 1875-died Philadelphia, PA 1918
Saÿen trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts while working as an electrical engineer, patenting improvements to X-ray tubes. In Paris from 1906 he joined Henri Matisse’s classes and absorbed the bold colour of Fauvism. Back in Philadelphia from 1914, he was among the city’s earliest modernists, moving towards flat, decorative, increasingly abstract compositions in the few years before his early death.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Smithsonian American Art Museum has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1970.81
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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