Tommy (Thomas Cafferty) 1924

Robert Henri made this portrait, Tommy, with oil on canvas sometime around the turn of the century. Look how he’s captured the boy’s whole face with a simple sweep of color that glows against the dark background. Henri wasn't trying to get everything exact, but to make a really active surface. It's all about the materiality of the paint. You can almost feel the way Henri loaded his brush and then swiped it across the canvas, pulling color from dark to light. See how the broad strokes define Tommy’s jacket, capturing the folds and weight of the fabric? And the way the color deepens around the edges, pulling him forward, the paint is confident, assured. It’s like Henri is saying, “This is how I see the world, raw and full of energy.” You know, looking at Henri's work, I am reminded of Franz Hals. Both artists had this incredible ability to capture a moment. It’s less about getting it right and more about getting it real.