O! Henri at The Gibbes

First thing to do: go upstairs in The Gibbes Museum to the main gallery to the exhibit of The Eight (thru Mar 22, 2009). Walk to the far left corner and find the portrait of Juan, a Mexican boy in a brown hat by Robert Henri (1865–1929). Try to settle for a few minutes in front of this portrait.

Peer into those almond-brown eyes that gaze at you so assuredly. Feel the charm of this boy. Notice his sensuous lips and full cheeks, the slightly flaring nose, his alert ears, relaxed shoulders, and loose clothing, and the ease with which the whole figure rests in its depth of canvas.

After a few minutes, wander among the other paintings, but half way through come back and look at this portrait again. Then, before you leave the exhibit, return for a final look. This is a superb way to visit a gallery. Go right to one of the best pieces, come back for a second look, and pay a final visit before leaving. It helps you see and appreciate more.

Something that makes Robert Henri’s portraits so enjoyable is that he combined an impressionist’s style with a realist’s depiction of his subjects. The brush strokes seem spontaneous and casual. Details appear imperfect. But the effect is that you are not distracted by the painterly aspects of Henri’s style. Instead, you are led into the character of his sitter.

Last thing to do: go downstairs to the back gallery and visit the Gibbes-owned portrait by Henri: The Green Fan (Girl of Toledo). Take your time with this 1912 jewel of the permanent collection. View it from different angles and distances.

Henri is sometimes compared to the Dutch master, Frans Hal, who is distinguished by his candid portraits and masterly brush strokes. But the comparison is insufficient because Henri’s talent was inferior. He could not wield a brush the way Frans Hal could. On the other hand, Henri’s temperament was less whimsical. He saw more profoundly into his subjects and rendered them with more dignity and depth.

Like all good portraitists, Henri looked boldly into his subject’s personas and daringly painted not only what he saw but what he perceived about them. The result is one of the most insightful body of portraits by a twentieth-century American artist.

Henri was also a renowned teacher who insisted that the art of painting is as much, if not more, about seeing than about painting, which is evident in his work. The more you study his portraits, the more you realize how much he penetrated the inner world of his subjects. The longer you look, the more his technique becomes secondary and the more transparently his subjects reveal themselves to you, which is the height of portraiture.

All too often, an artist’s technique—be it in painting, music, or drama—stands in the way of our being able to get at and fully enjoy the essence behind it. Henri understood this and cautioned his students about it while teaching them to focus on what they saw rather than on how they painted. Seeing was the thing, the real art. Painting was simply a result.

Henri’s preferred teaching method—which, as he explained, is hard to employ—was to have students look at a model in one room, then go to an adjoining room and draw or paint from memory. He did not want them to just copy the model. He wanted them to really ‘see’ what they were trying to capture on their canvases. As he said, “An interest in the subject, something you want to say definitely about the subject; this is the first condition of a portrait.”

It’s also a way to look at a Robert Henri portrait. What did he see? What was it that he wanted to say definitely about the subject? One clue is that, like all great portraitists, he was adept at finding a pose and posture that would match his sitters’ facial features and echo that ‘something’ in their inner character.

Something else you may want to do: get a copy of Henri’s notes to his students, The Art Spirit, Harper & Row. It is an inspiring series of comments about how to see, how to paint, and how to live.

See more of Henri’s paintings here.

The Gibbes Museum
135 Meeting Street
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