The Green Sacque
Artist
Robert Henri
(American, 1865 - 1929)
Date1927
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 24 1/16 x 20 inches (61.12 x 50.8 cm)
Framed: 31 3/8 x 27 3/4 inches (79.69 x 70.49 cm)
Framed: 31 3/8 x 27 3/4 inches (79.69 x 70.49 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number59-46
SignedInscribed and signed on verso top: 111 N Robert Henri
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionAgainst variegated reddish-purple ground, half-length, frontal portrait of rosy-cheeked, blue-eyed little girl with tousled brown hair, green ribbon, wearing open green coat with brown fur collar and cuffs, blue plaid dress collar beneath coat, white scarf, center.Gallery LabelCozad, Nebraska, native Robert Henri was one of the most charismatic and influential art teachers in early 20th-century America. His many students included George Bellows, William Glackens and John Sloan as well as Edward Hopper and Stuart Davis.
Henri specialized in portraiture, and his broad-minded philosophy about his subjects inspired others to choose sitters from all races and walks of life. Mary MacNamara, the sitter for The Green Sacque, was one of numerous Irish children Henri painted during frequent visits to Ireland. The canvas' keen analysis of character, masterful brushwork and strong contrasts of light and dark attest to Henri's great regard for such Dutch and Spanish masters as Rembrandt and Jusepe de Ribera.
Henri specialized in portraiture, and his broad-minded philosophy about his subjects inspired others to choose sitters from all races and walks of life. Mary MacNamara, the sitter for The Green Sacque, was one of numerous Irish children Henri painted during frequent visits to Ireland. The canvas' keen analysis of character, masterful brushwork and strong contrasts of light and dark attest to Henri's great regard for such Dutch and Spanish masters as Rembrandt and Jusepe de Ribera.
Henri Estate;
to Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, NY, 1958;
to Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles, CA, 1959;
to Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1959.
Henry McBride, “Attractions in the Galleries,” New York Sun,
11 March 1933, 21; “Exhibitions in New York: Robert Henri,” Art
News 31 (18 March 1933), 6 (as Green Sacque); Edwina Spencer,
“Around the Galleries,” Creative Art 12 (April 1933), 316; “Old
and Modern Masters’ Works at Cushing Gallery,” Newport (R.I.)
Advertiser, 11 August 1935, 8; “Old and Modern Masters’ Works
at Cushing Gallery,” Providence (R.I.) Sunday Journal, 11 August
1935, clipping, NAMA curatorial fi les; Exhibition of Important
Paintings by Old and Modern Masters from the Robert C. Vose
Galleries, Boston, exh. cat. (n.p., 1935), unpaginated; “Early American Paintings Shown,” Denver Post, 19 April 1936, sec. 2, 10; “Gallery Acquires Portrait by Robert Henri,” Kansas City Star, 14 June
1959, 36; “Accessions of American and Canadian Museums: July–
September, 1959,” Art Quarterly 22 (Winter 1959), 390, 398 (as
Girl in a Green Coat); George Erhlich, “Two Portraits by Robert
Henri,” Bulletin (William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary
Atkins Museum of Fine Arts) 4 (Spring 1963), 23–31 (as Girl in a
Green Coat); Robert Henri (1865–1929): An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings, exh. brochure (Montgomery, Ala.: Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 1971) (as Girl in a Green Coat); NAMA
1973, 252 (as Girl in a Green Coat); NAMA 1991, 134–35 (as Girl
in a Green Coat [Sissy’s Sister Mary]); Bennard B. Perlman, Robert Henri: His Life and Art (New York: Dover Publications, 1991),
149; Journal of the American Medical Association, 27 September
1995, 928, cover (as The Green Sacque [Sissy’s Sister Mary]).
11 March 1933, 21; “Exhibitions in New York: Robert Henri,” Art
News 31 (18 March 1933), 6 (as Green Sacque); Edwina Spencer,
“Around the Galleries,” Creative Art 12 (April 1933), 316; “Old
and Modern Masters’ Works at Cushing Gallery,” Newport (R.I.)
Advertiser, 11 August 1935, 8; “Old and Modern Masters’ Works
at Cushing Gallery,” Providence (R.I.) Sunday Journal, 11 August
1935, clipping, NAMA curatorial fi les; Exhibition of Important
Paintings by Old and Modern Masters from the Robert C. Vose
Galleries, Boston, exh. cat. (n.p., 1935), unpaginated; “Early American Paintings Shown,” Denver Post, 19 April 1936, sec. 2, 10; “Gallery Acquires Portrait by Robert Henri,” Kansas City Star, 14 June
1959, 36; “Accessions of American and Canadian Museums: July–
September, 1959,” Art Quarterly 22 (Winter 1959), 390, 398 (as
Girl in a Green Coat); George Erhlich, “Two Portraits by Robert
Henri,” Bulletin (William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary
Atkins Museum of Fine Arts) 4 (Spring 1963), 23–31 (as Girl in a
Green Coat); Robert Henri (1865–1929): An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings, exh. brochure (Montgomery, Ala.: Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 1971) (as Girl in a Green Coat); NAMA
1973, 252 (as Girl in a Green Coat); NAMA 1991, 134–35 (as Girl
in a Green Coat [Sissy’s Sister Mary]); Bennard B. Perlman, Robert Henri: His Life and Art (New York: Dover Publications, 1991),
149; Journal of the American Medical Association, 27 September
1995, 928, cover (as The Green Sacque [Sissy’s Sister Mary]).
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