PROVENANCE
Dominion Gallery, Montreal
Collection of Kenneth G. Heffel, Vancouver, 1973
Masters Gallery Ltd., Calgary, 1977
Private Collection, Edmonton and then British Columbia
By descent to the present Private Collection, British Columbia

LITERATURE
Louise Dompierre, John Lyman, 1886 – 1967, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1986, page 55

John Lyman lived abroad for many years; in 1909, he moved to France, where he studied with Henri Matisse. He was financially stable and led a nomadic life, traveling through Europe, North Africa and the West Indies. Lyman exhibited in Paris at such venues as the Salon des Artistes Indépendants, Salon des Tuileries and Salon d’Automne. In 1931, he returned to Canada, where he quickly rose to prominence as a modernist in Montreal’s art community, showing through the Eastern Group of Painters and the Contemporary Arts Society. Louise Dompierre wrote that Lyman was “one of the key figures to emphasize internationalism and to spread ideas which were to lead to major artistic changes, not only in the thirties but in the following two decades as well.”

Écuyère de Cirque is impressive in scale, form and detail. Horse and rider are caught in a theatrical moment, poised in mid air, performing in front of close to one hundred faces. There is a palpable sense of ambiance that Lyman so successfully captures. Punctuating the scene is a clown like figure in the lower right corner which provides a greater sense of scale to this dramatic scene. Écuyère de Cirque has been held in a private collection since 1977.

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