Achill Island Lass

Artist Robert Henri (American, 1865 - 1929)

Date1928

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 28 1/8 x 20 1/8 inches (71.44 x 51.13 cm)
Framed: 33 1/2 x 25 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches (85.09 x 64.77 x 5.72 cm)

Credit LineGift of Lucille Jennings Gille in honor of Judge and Mrs. John Calvin Pollock

Object number2011.38

Signedl.l. corner (black paint): "Robert Henri" verso, top: "224/N Robert Henri"

On View

Not on view

Collections

American Art

Terms

DescriptionThis half-length portrait features a young girl with a rosy complexion; large, dark and engaging eyes; and short, tousled brown hair seated against a dark, nondescript background. The sitter's body is angled to the left, but she looks directly out at the viewer. She wears a long-sleeved, dark red dress beneath a white/gray smock. In contrast with her more carefully painted face, the little girl's clothing is sketchily rendered-painted with broad, painterly strokes. Her proper left arm, summarily described, rests in her lap. Her proper right arm is even more vaguely suggested.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

Robert Henri

American, 1865–1929

Achill Island Lass, 1928

Oil on canvas

Although childless himself, Robert Henri wrote, “If one has love of children as human beings, and realizes the greatness that is in them, no better subjects for painting can be found.” Henri specialized in portraiture. Children, such as this Irish girl, especially appealed to him as sitters. He felt that their innocence offered a remedy for the complexities of modern life. The seemingly spontaneous brushstrokes he used to describe this child, with her tousled hair and sketchily rendered clothing, convey an authenticity and vitality that are characteristic of his best portraits.

Gift of Lucille Jennings Gille in honor of Judge and Mrs. John Calvin Pollock, 2011.38

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