El Segoviano 1923

Robert Henri painted “El Segoviano” with oil, and you can tell he’s really working the surface. It's like he’s wrestling with the paint to get the colors and forms just right. Check out the way Henri's built up the textures, especially in the man’s face and hands. It feels almost sculptural, right? He uses these short, choppy strokes of color, like little dabs of ochre, red, and white, and it gives the painting this incredible sense of movement. I like how Henri’s mark-making feels so urgent, so alive. The brushstrokes in the red coat are super expressive, it feels like they could keep going. Henri reminds me of someone like Gustave Courbet, you know? Both artists are interested in capturing the grit and beauty of everyday life. For me, this painting is less about capturing a likeness than it is about the sheer joy of painting. It feels like an ongoing experiment, and that’s the beauty of art – it's never really finished.