At the Opera 1904

Robert Henri made this drawing, At The Opera, using delicate graphite strokes on paper. It’s so fresh, so immediate, I can almost feel Henri sketching in the dark of the theater, trying to capture the scene before him. I wonder what it was like for Henri sitting in the audience, observing these figures, and deciding which ones to capture on paper. He probably wanted to create a sense of atmosphere, the buzz of the crowd and the muted stage lights—it's almost like a memory, hazy and partially erased. Did he want to capture a feeling more than an exact likeness? I get the sense of the artist's eye moving quickly. Henri lets the marks speak for themselves. This reminds me of Degas's pastels of dancers, a shared interest in capturing fleeting moments of modern life. Each artist is in conversation with the other, both finding ways to see, think, and experience the world through their art. Ultimately, it's the artist's unique, embodied expression that allows for endless interpretation.