At the Opera 1904

Robert Henri made this drawing, At the Opera, using pencil, and it looks like he was really thinking through the act of seeing. The marks are searching, tentative, not quite fixed. The image feels blurry and half-remembered, like trying to picture something after you’ve glanced away. The soft smudges give the drawing a hazy, dreamlike quality. Look how the figures emerge from the background, dissolving at the edges. The line seems to dance, especially along the railing. It's a flurry of activity, a real contrast to the stillness of the figures. Is that an opera box? I think so. But it's like he's more interested in the shimmering atmosphere. Henri’s work reminds me of Degas, who was similarly obsessed with capturing fleeting moments, with the feeling of being there, rather than the precise details. It's this sense of immediacy, this embrace of imperfection, that makes the drawing so alive. It’s a conversation.