Henry W. Karnes 1905

Henry Arthur McArdle painted this portrait of Henry W. Karnes, and you can see how the artist has layered thinned oil paint to conjure up the impression of a figure emerging from a misty background. I can almost feel the artist standing there, brush in hand, as if trying to bring forth the ghost of Karnes through veils of muted color. Notice the way his hand is raised to his face. Is he thinking? Remembering? There’s a sensitivity in the brushwork there, a kind of tenderness as if McArdle sought to not just paint Karnes, but to understand something about who he was. It’s not just about rendering a likeness, but capturing a mood, an essence. This is a great example of how artists are always talking to one another, across time, in a visual language that speaks of both presence and absence, memory and imagination.