Robert Henri
(American, 1865-1929)
oil on canvas
signed Robert Henri (lower right); inscribed by another hand with the artist's name and his notebook number, as well as an erroneous title identifying the sitter as a boy (verso)
23 3/4 x 20 1/4 inches.
Provenance:
Macbeth Gallery, New York, 1915
Lot note:
A chief proponent of the Ashcan School, Robert Henri's true artistic spirit is understood through his portraits. Images of individuals from all classes, ages, and nationalities, his portraits are principally concerned with capturing the essence of his sitters, who he called “my people.” The influence of his teacher Thomas Anschutz at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art, who he studied under in 1885, contributed substantially to the development of Henri's art, particularly regarding his focus on social realism and urban life. Together with other fellow artists of the Ashcan School, including John Sloan, George Bellows, William Glackens, and Everett Shinn, Henri sought out immigrant subjects for his urban realist paintings and illustrations. Additionally, the artist’s eventual adoption of a plain background and limited palette of colors, using either a three-color palette base or pairs of complementary colors, further allowed him to reveal his subjects and present them as they really were, without artifice.
Henri was also a teacher, widely admired for his theory and criticism. In 1907, he took a group of students to Haarlem in the Netherlands, where he taught a class and worked on his own paintings. The local population fascinated him, particularly the children. Likewise, he found inspiration in the work of the 16th century painter Frans Hals, who used thick, visible brushwork to create expressive portraits. During his stay, Henri executed a series of informal portraits of two Dutch girls, painting so rapidly that he produced one to three portraits a day. Titled Cori in the artist’s notebook, the present portrait of Cori Peterson was executed during these sessions. The energetic, spontaneous brushwork reveals the artist’s admiration for Hals and the French Impressionists, as well his characteristic use of gestural brushstrokes, dramatic lighting, and a limited palette. Other portraits of Cori include Dutch Girl Laughing, Dallas Museum of Art, and Laughing Child, Whitney Museum of Art, New York. Henri described his merry model in several letters, stating, “One of my two models is a little white-headed, broad-faced, red-cheeked girl of about eight—always laughing.” In Cori, Henri records a more contemplative moment, with the young girl solemnly gazing ahead, her bright red cheeks and lips contrasting against the dark background and her white pinafore. The present work highlights Henri’s ability to paint the vitality and unique character of his sitters and is a captivating example of the portraits for which he is best known.
