Anemones

Anemones belongs to H. Lyman Saÿen's Paris-period work, when his painting absorbed the strong color and simplified forms associated with modernist circles around Henri Matisse. The picture uses a domestic still-life subject as a vehicle for saturated reds, greens, pale blue-greens, and dark linear accents rather than descriptive naturalism. Saÿen was unusual among early American modernists: before committing himself to painting, he worked as an inventor and held patents connected to X-ray technology. He traveled to Paris in 1906, studied with Matisse, and moved in avant-garde circles that included Gertrude Stein's salon. After returning to Philadelphia during World War I, Saÿen helped organize the city's first major exhibition of modern art with Morton Schamberg in 1916. This work reflects the earlier Paris years that shaped his mature modernist vocabulary.