John Butler Yeats 1909

Robert Henri made this oil painting of John Butler Yeats, and it's a great example of how to capture someone's essence with just a few strokes. The palette is tight, mostly darks, which throws the highlights into high relief and the marks are loose and confident, like he's really *seen* the guy and then just laid it down fast. Look at the way Henri builds up the face with these fleshy pinks and creams – it’s so alive. The beard is just a flurry of white scumbles, but somehow, it reads perfectly. There’s a bravura brushstroke right on the knuckle of his hand, a pure dab of white that just *makes* the form. It’s a small detail, but it shows how Henri understood the power of suggestion. It reminds me of Manet, how he could conjure a whole world with just a few flicks of the wrist. For me, this piece is a reminder that painting is as much about feeling and intuition as it is about technique.