H. Lyman Saÿen
Décor Plat
May one see it?
Unknown: the museum keeps its counsel
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Washington, D.C., United States
The owner is known. Whether it is on view today, the museum does not say, and we were not trained to guess.
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the painting
H. Lyman Saÿen spent a great deal of time at the home of his friend and fellow painter Carl Newman, who lived in Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania. Saÿen was inspired by Henri Matisse, who encouraged him to use color to express his emotions. He explored the countryside around Newman’s house and created large paintings of the landscape in shocking colors. Décor Plat and Décor Slav confused the viewers at a 1916 exhibition, and one visitor commented that their strange compositions “defied analysis or explanation.” (Public Ledger, Magazine Section, 1916, in Breeskin, H. Lyman Saÿen, 1970) The thick blocks of paint and bold outlines make the paintings appear animated, as if the colors are dancing and sliding around the canvas.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1967.6.5
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Smithsonian American Art Museum: the museum's own open data · fetched 8 days ago
- Image: Smithsonian American Art Museum — CC0