# 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._

3 works in the collection.

- [Child Reading](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/child-reading-si-saam-1968-19-11), H. Lyman Saÿen, 1915-1918. Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution.
- [Calligraphic Interior](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/calligraphic-interior-si-saam-1968-19-12), H. Lyman Saÿen, ca. 1915. Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution.
- [Pont des Arts](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/pont-des-arts-si-saam-1970-81), H. Lyman Saÿen, 1908-1911. Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution.