Pepita 1917

Robert Henri captured this portrait of a young woman named Pepita with oil on canvas. Imagine him, Henri, standing before the easel, squinting, mixing hues to capture the exact shade of her skin. See how the lush brushstrokes dance across the canvas, each dab a record of his looking. I imagine the pink of Pepita’s shirt probably went through so many changes before Henri landed on that particular shade. The broad strokes of the background feel urgent, like he had to get them down quickly before the light shifted. I bet he wiped his brush a bunch to get those greens and browns just right. Look at the way he’s used a range of tones to bring out the subtleties of her face. I love the way he’s built up layers of paint to give her face a luminous quality. This is painting as a conversation, not just with the subject, but with every painter who ever picked up a brush. We're all just riffing off each other, trying to see the world a little differently.