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.”
Date
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Oliver S. Tonks, “Robert Henri—An Appreciation,” American Magazine of Art 7 (Oct. 1916), 476 (ill.).
N. Pousette–Dart, Robert Henri, Distinguished Americans Series (New York, 1922), ill.
Catalogue of the Walter H. Schulze Memorial Gallery of Paintings (Chicago, 1925), 9 (ill.).
R.M.F., “The Walter H. Schulze Memorial Gallery of Paintings,” Bulletin of The Art Institute of Chicago 19 (Jan. 1925), 8–9 (ill.).
Rilla Evelyn Jackman, American Arts (Rand McNally, 198), pl. CXI.
Dorothy Grafly, “Robert Henri,” American Magazine of Art 22 (June 1931), 443 (ill.).
Guy Pene du Bois, “Exhibitions—Robert Henri,” Arts 17 (1931).
“Robert Henri—Painter, 1865–1929,” Index of Twentieth Century Artists 2 (Jan. 1935), 56.
Paintings in The Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 1961), 215.
William Inness Homer, Robert Henri and His Circle (Ithaca, 1969), 249, ill. p. 251.
Judith A. Barter, et al., American Arts at The Art Institute of Chicago: From Colonial Times to World War I (Art Institute of Chicago, 1998).
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, 109th Annual Exhibition, Feb. 8–Mar. 29, 1914, no cat.
Washington, DC, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Fifth Exhibition, Oil Paintings by Contemporary American Artists, Dec. 15, 1914–Jan. 24, 1915, cat. 191.
Detroit Museum of Art, Third Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, Apr. 9–May 30, 1917, cat. 59.
Stockholm, Sweden, Kungl Akademien för de Fria Konsterna, Utställning av Amerikansk Konst i Stockholm [Exhibition of American Art in Stockholm], Mar. 15–Apr. 7, 1930, cat. 47; Copenhagen, Denmark, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Udstilling af Amerikanst Konst I København [Exhibition of American Art in Copenhagen], May 3–22, 1930; Munich, Germany, Ausstellung Americanischer Kunst [Exhibition of American Art], June–July, 1930 (organized by the American Scandinavian Foundation).
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Henri Memorial Exhibition, Mar. 9–Apr. 19, 1931.
Cincinnati Museum of Art, Feb. 16–Mar. 22, 1932.
Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress, June 1–Nov. 1, 1933, cat 459.
Muskegon, Mich., Hackley Art Gallery, Nov. 4–29, 1950.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, One Hundred–Fifieth Anniversary Exhibition, Jan. 15–Mar. 13, 1955, cat. 108.
Chicago, Main Street Gallery, Robert Henri Retrospective Exhibition, Feb. 22–Mar. 19, 1960, cat. 20.
Davenport Municipal Art Gallery, Iowa, American Painting, Mar. 31–?, 1963, cat. 31.
Wilmington, Delaware Art Museum, Robert Henri: Painter, May 4–June 24, 1984; University Park, Pennsylvania State University, Palmer Museum of Art, July 10, 1984, Cincinnati Art Museum, Jan. 8, 1985, Washington, DC, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Apr. 19–June 8, 1985.
Macbeth Gallery, New York; Mr. and Mrs. Paul Schulze, by 1924; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1924.
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