Francine 1921

Robert Henri painted Francine with oil on canvas, and what strikes me is the way he's built up the image, not as a smooth surface, but as a series of considered marks. It really speaks to the act of painting itself. The texture of the paint is really important here. It's not about hiding the process, but about celebrating it. The brushstrokes are visible, especially in the background and in the shawl, where you can see how the colors blend and merge. Look at the impasto on the red and yellow sections of the shawl and how they give the painting such vitality. This isn't about illusionism; it’s about materiality. It's about the push and pull of the brush, the way the paint catches the light. Henri’s teacher was Thomas Anshutz, who was himself a student of Thomas Eakins. You can really see the lineage of portraiture in this piece, but Henri brings a certain modernity and freshness to the genre. It reminds us that art is always in conversation with itself, and that each artist builds on the work of those who came before.