Name/Title
"Caricature of Gideon A. Lyon"Description
Caricature of a bespectacled man seated at a desk with a pen in one hand and a cigarette in the other.Artwork Details
Subject Person
Gideon A. LyonSeries
Caricatures of past Arts Club presidents by Clifford Kennedy Berryman.Context
Gideon A. Lyon (1867-1951)
Playwright and journalist Gideon A. Lyon became the fourth president of the Arts Club in 1924. Born in Michigan, he moved with his parents to DC at the age of ten. He became a reporter for the Washington Evening Star at age 20 and spent the rest of his career there. He covered White House and Senate proceedings, going on to do editorial work and eventually becoming associate editor. He wrote a number of plays and works of fiction for his own and friends’ diversion. His self-published book of poems, Tinkles of a Jester’s Bells, is in the Arts Club’s library. The caricature shows Lyon, pencil in hand, looking up from a paper that reads “75 years ago in the Star,” saying: “At times I forget as my old memory is slipping a bit.” This is perhaps poking fun at the fact that Lyon had been doing the same work for so long. A portrait of Lyon by an anonymous artist hangs in the 2nd floor north parlor. Source: Max Gilder, intern for the Arts Club during the spring semester of 2021 while a student at the University of Maryland.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Clifford Kennedy BerrymanRole
ArtistInscription/Signature/Marks
Type
SignatureLocation
lower right cornerTranscription
C K BerrymanType
LabelLocation
lower left cornerTranscription
Gideon A. Lyon 1924Type
InscriptionLocation
upper left corner speech bubbleTranscription
“At times I forget as my old memory is slipping a bit.”Update Date
August 21, 2025