Archibald Lang Fleming
Private Collection, Toronto
Joyner Fine Art, auction, Toronto, June 3, 2003, lot 40
D & E Lake Limited Fine Arts, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto
Exhibited
“John Lyman 1886-1967, I live by my eyes/Je vis par les yeux”, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, 26 September – 23 November 1986, travelling to the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg; London Regional Art Gallery, London, Ontario; Musée national de beaux-arts du Quebec, Quebec City; Musée d'art contemporain, Montreal, addendum
Literature
Louise Dompierre, “John Lyman 1886-1967, I live by my eyes/Je vis par les yeux”, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, 1986, page 71, listed page 197 and reproduced in colour as the cover illustration, also reproduced on the exhibition invitation
Dr. François-Marc Gagnon, “Lyman's Encounter with Matisse”, “Morrice and Lyman in the Company of Matisse”, Montreal/Toronto, 2014, page 168
David Barber, “A Forgotten Legacy”, “The Whig-Standard Magazine”, October 4, 1986, page 15
The human figure greatly interested Lyman; it was the subject of several important paintings throughout his career. Curator Louise Dompierre affirmed that, during the 1930s, the artist produced some of his best portraits. In this captivating artwork, Marcelle is intelligently composed; the artist uses visible brush-work and varying neutral tones, touched perfectly by light, to bring his composition to life. An undeniable feat, Lyman is able to masterfully contrast his nude sitter against a nude-coloured background. Dr. Gagnon notes that Lyman is concerned with “affirming the presence of volume” as the contrast in lighting “situate[s] the figure in three-dimensional space, even the viewer's space.” Exerting great control in defining the form, he refrains from inclusion of decorative fabrics or wallpaper, allowing the setting to remain relatively bare. This achieves a remarkable unity between the figure and the background.
Marcelle's straightforward gaze is hypnotic and her strength of character certain. Dompierre notes that works such as “Portrait of Marcelle” “convey Lyman's attraction to women of exceptionally sensuous appeal and show his ability to convey such sensuousness while allowing the model to retain her dignity... It is one of his best qualities, arising from the manner in which he paints, creating a distance, a wall that cannot be crossed.”
One of the largest portraits by the artist, this canvas was selected as the cover illustration for the catalogue of the 1986 travelling retrospective exhibition. Barber tells how the curator came to include this remarkable portrait in the show, noting “the striking nude reproduced on the front cover of the catalogue, ‘Portrait of Marcelle’, 'came out at the last minute', when its owner, hearing that the exhibition was forthcoming, contacted Dompierre. There was time to put it on the cover but not to include it in the body of the catalogue.” The artwork was also chosen as the reproduced image on the invitation for the Members’ Preview evening of the exhibition.
