Henri Seyrig

Henri Seyrig (1895–1973) was a prominent French archaeologist, historian, and art collector. He served as Director of the Direction des Musées de France from 1960 to 1962, and earlier as Director of Antiquities for Syria and Lebanon (1929–1941). He also founded and led the French Institute of Archaeology in Beirut for over two decades. Beyond his institutional roles, Seyrig was an important patron of modern art and maintained close relationships with artists and intellectuals in Europe and the United States.

During Ellsworth Kelly’s years in Paris, Seyrig was connected to him through his family: his daughter Delphine Seyrigwas married to the American painter Jack Youngerman, one of Kelly’s closest friends. Seyrig acquired Kelly’s work Antibes (1950)—the only sale Kelly made in France—and introduced him to Alexander Calder and Louisa Calder.