Dutch Match Woman 1910

Robert Henri made "Dutch Match Woman" with oil paint, using a dark palette, the kind that sucks you in. I imagine Henri, squinting, trying to capture something about her spirit. It's not just a likeness, it's like he's wrestling with paint to find the right way to show her. See how the brushstrokes around her face are loose and searching? Like he's feeling his way through the shadows and light. Look at the red on her cheeks – it's like a little burst of life, even against the somber background. You can almost feel the texture of her skin, the weight of her gaze. It's like Henri's saying, ‘Here’s a person, full of stories, right here in front of us.’ And that's what painting can do, right? It connects us, across time, to each other's humanity.