The Thundershower

H. Lyman Saÿen, The Thundershower, ca. 1917-1918, tempera on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of H. Lyman Sayen to his nation, 1967.6.19
Copied H. Lyman Saÿen, The Thundershower, ca. 1917-1918, tempera on wood, 36 x 46 in. (91.4 x 116.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of H. Lyman Sayen to his nation, 1967.6.19
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Artwork Details

Title
The Thundershower
Artist
Date
ca. 1917-1918
Location
Dimensions
36 x 46 in. (91.4 x 116.8 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of H. Lyman Sayen to his nation
Mediums
Mediums Description
tempera on wood
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — weather — shower
  • Allegory — other — nature
  • Abstract
  • Figure female
Object Number
1967.6.19
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1967.6.19

Artwork Description

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