Dutch girl in white 1907

Robert Henri, sometime around the turn of the last century, made this portrait, probably in oils. Look how he's building up the form of the girl with these fleshy strokes of white, pink and ochre. You can almost feel the brush moving, capturing a likeness but also a moment. The beauty of a painting like this lies in its surface. Henri isn’t hiding the work; you can see every stroke, how the paint is thick in some places and thin in others, building up the layers of light. Take a look at the girl’s left cheek. It's not just pink, it's a whole constellation of subtle tones, laid down with confident, visible marks. That little hint of blue-gray just beneath the surface gives her skin such a lifelike quality. Henri reminds me of Manet. Both were invested in realism, but they were also painters above all else, and never forgot that they were making marks on a surface. Neither were afraid to leave the messy traces of their process right there on the canvas. For both, ambiguity is the point.