The Thundershower

Object Details

Artist

H. Lyman Saÿen, born Philadelphia, PA 1875-died Philadelphia, PA 1918

Gallery Label

Saÿen studied with Matisse in Paris and was among the first to bring modern art into Philadelphia's conservative culture. He created The Thundershower from a mix of European modernism and Native American decorative patterns. But this painting is not just "cross-cultural." It also marks a transition from an older world to a new and dynamic century. The two figures move through time and space like the frames of a filmstrip, and organic forms meld with angles and arcs of pure color. Before he began to paint, Saÿen was an electrical engineer who held patents for radiological instruments. He died on the threshold of the Machine Age, shortly after completing this work, and The Thundershower suggests an artist who was already engaged in a new way of seeing.Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006

Credit Line

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of H. Lyman Sayen to his nation

ca. 1917-1918

Object number

1967.6.19

Restrictions & Rights

CC0

Type

Painting

Medium

tempera on wood

Dimensions

36 x 46 in. (91.4 x 116.8 cm.)

See more items in

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

Department

Painting and Sculpture

On View

Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2nd Floor, North Wing

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Topic

Figure female

Abstract

Allegory\other\nature

Landscape\weather\shower

Record ID

saam_1967.6.19

Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk71aafcf6a-aeea-4c56-a052-ac6e436cbd16