Saint-Nazaire, France 1890

Robert Henri painted Saint-Nazaire, France with oil on canvas, capturing a street scene festooned with flags, likely sometime around the turn of the 20th century. The flags signal a specific moment of national celebration, and Henri’s choice to depict them speaks to the broader social and political role of art at the time. In France, the Third Republic was solidifying its identity through public displays of patriotism and national pride. Henri, as an American artist, offers an outsider's perspective on this phenomenon. The loose brushwork and bright colors give the scene an air of spontaneity, but also remind us that national identity is carefully constructed and performed. To understand this work more fully, a historian might research the specific events taking place in Saint-Nazaire and France at the time, including museum records, archives, and period newspapers. In doing so, we come to see how Henri’s canvas is less a mirror of reality than a reflection of cultural values and institutions.