Irish Girl

Maker Robert Henri (American, 1865-1929)

Collections

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Date1927

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensions28 1/4 x 20 in. (71.8 x 50.8 cm.)

Signedlower left

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of the Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation

Status

On view

Label TextRobert Henri painted portraits of people he encountered on the streets of New York City, in the American Southwest, and during his extensive travels abroad. From 1927 to 1928, he painted over 140 portraits of children on tiny Achill Island off the northwest coast of Ireland. In these paintings Henri favored vivid colors and bold brushwork. His portraits capture the individuality of his sitters and the nature of their environment; here, the girl's ruddy cheeks suggest the cold, windswept climate of Achill.

Robert Henri was the teacher of and mentor to the group of early 20th-century Realists known as the Ashcan School, including John Sloan, George Bellows, and George Luks. In 1908, Henri organized the controversial exhibition "The Eight," which featured Sloan, Luks, Arthur B. Davies, William Glackens, Maurice Prendergast, Ernest Lawson, and Everett Shinn.

Object number2019.13