Himself, by Robert Henri, 1913
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Himself

Robert Henri (American, 1865–1929)

1913

Medium
Oil on canvas
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
81.9 × 66.4 cm (32 1/4 × 26 1/8 in.)
Culture
United States
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of the Americas
Credit line
Walter H. Schulze Memorial Collection
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the Art Institute of Chicago

About this work

Robert Henri painted Himself and Herself (1924.911) (Irish terms of endearment for a husband and wife) during a summer trip to Ireland; the canvases depict the fisherman Johnnie Cummings and his wife, Biddy. The rich hues and thick, lush paint add depth to the works, while the figures’ elusive expressions and informal poses give them a brusque, forthright quality. Each portrait reveals a distinctive character and, according to Henri, was meant to be a dynamic example of “humanity in the making, in the living.”

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0