Po-Tse-Water Eagle 1914

Robert Henri brushed this portrait of Po-Tse-Water Eagle into being with oil paint, likely in his studio. I bet Henri was just knocked out by the power and presence of his sitter, her gaze direct and unwavering! Imagine him, circling, brush loaded, trying to capture that intensity. I'm thinking about the specific pink he uses on her sleeves, how it almost vibrates against the cooler background. There's this tension, this electric energy, that I can really relate to in my own practice. I wonder, was he trying to capture something beyond just her likeness? Was he thinking about Manet, maybe Velázquez, those portrait masters who could distill a whole person down to a few confident strokes? Henri, like many artists, was participating in this ongoing conversation across time. We are always building upon, reacting to, and remixing the work of those who came before. In the end, what we’re left with is this beautiful, flawed, and deeply human record of seeing.