# Pont des Arts

**H. Lyman Saÿen** (born Philadelphia, PA 1875-died Philadelphia, PA 1918)  
1908-1911  
oil on wood  
10 3/8 x 13 3/4 in. (26.4 x 35.0 cm)

Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1970.81. [The museum's record](https://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=21712).

## 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](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/h-lyman-sayen)

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._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- The artist was about 33
- Real size: about 10 × 14 in (26 × 35 cm). The 11 × 14 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 20th century
- Subjects: Bridges, Architecture, Pont des Arts, Figure group, Cityscapes, Rivers, Seine River
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1945.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1945/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/pont-des-arts-si-saam-1970-81).