Child in Rocker c. 1916

Henry Lyman Saÿen made this painting of a Child in Rocker, sometime between 1875 and 1918, with a flurry of brushstrokes. It’s a wild ride of pinks, blues, and blacks. Look at those cheeks! Did he start with that rose color and then let everything else just… happen? There’s a definite push-pull, where colors jump out and then recede, creating a visual game of hide-and-seek. Saÿen is playing with how we see, how we put things together in our minds. I wonder if he was trying to capture the energy of childhood itself, that constant motion and changing perspective. Saÿen's got this knack for making something so raw, so immediate. Like he’s not just painting what he sees, but how he feels. It reminds me of Marsden Hartley's raw expression and the bold color choices. It’s all connected, this conversation between artists across time.