Monhegan Island, Maine 1911

Robert Henri painted this landscape of Monhegan Island, Maine, sometime in his career. It's got this real moody vibe, you know? The kind of day where the sky and the sea just kind of blend together. Henri's laying down these strokes, almost like he's sketching with paint. The colors are muted, mostly grays and greens, but there's this energy in how he’s applying the paint. Look at the way the clouds are formed; they're not trying to be perfect, realistic clouds, but rather gestures of clouds. I'm drawn to the lower right corner, where the dark greens and browns of the land meet the gray of the sea. It's like this little battle of color and texture. You can almost feel the wind and the dampness. Think of someone like Courbet, who was interested in the sheer physicality of paint and how it could convey the weight and presence of the world. There’s no right or wrong way to see it, just a conversation that keeps going.