Catharine

1913

Robert Henri

Painter, American, 1865 - 1929

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.

Painted in 1913, Catharine is a rapidly painted character study—a form favored by Robert Henri at this time. The artist preferred to depict people with whom he felt a strong spiritual empathy, which enabled him to portray a wide spectrum of humanity that would not have been possible with conventional commissions. This work was painted during Henri’s first visit to Achill Island, off the west coast of Ireland, where he stayed in a house named Corrymore near the remote fishing villages Keel and Dooagh. During this time Henri painted numerous portraits of the local inhabitants, especially children. According to Henri, Catharine was a poor fisherman’s daughter who was related to Brien O’Malley, the elderly subject of his Guide to Croaghan (1913, The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Jacksonville, FL). Because of its immense charm and spontaneity, Catharine has always been one of Henri’s most popular portraits. Much of the painting’s success can be attributed to Catharine’s extraordinarily expressive eyes. The exceptionally vigorous brushwork and bright palette is typical of Henri’s work of this period. A Pittsburgh critic pronounced it one of Henri’s “best, most interesting and most attractive child pictures . . . beautiful, charming, a canvas that would command attention and admiration in any collection.”

Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

Scholarly Article:  American Paintings, 1900–1945: Catharine, 1913

This nearly square painting shows an industrial area with buildings, storage silos, a smokestack, and railroad tracks. A mound of brown dirt or other material is in shadow in the lower left corner of the painting. Next to the mound, railroad tracks extend diagonally from the lower center of the painting into the distance to our right. The tracks end at a white building with staggered gray rooflines to our right in the distance. A tall terracotta-red smokestack rises high beyond the white building, smoke pouring out of its top and blending into the clouds above. Just beyond the mound of dirt, piles of white material, perhaps in unseen bins, line the railroad track to our left and lead back to a row ten interconnected, coral-orange silos. The horizon comes about halfway up the painting, and it is lined with a row of long white and gray warehouses. The artist signed and dated the work with brown paint in the lower right corner: “Sheeler 31.”

Scholarly Series:  American Paintings, 1900–1945

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Purchased from the artist by (Macbeth Gallery, New York); sold November 1913 to William J. Johnson [1860-1942], Uniontown, Pennsylvania; by inheritance to his son, Oscar Doyle Johnson, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania;[1] gift 1948 to NGA.
[1] Henri recorded the painting's provenance in his ledger book (Artist’s Record Book, Estate of Robert Henri, LeClair Family Collection, New York City; transcription sent 28 June 1978 by Chapellier Galleries, New York, to NGA curator E. John Bullard III, in NGA curatorial files): "266H Catharine Achill Island July 1913 20 x 24. Dark vari-colored background, dark hair and eyes, grey dress, blue tie. Sold to Mr. MacBeth who sold to W. J. Johnson, collector of Uniontown, Pa., Nov., 1913." (A later notation in another hand added: "This painting is now in the National Gallery, Washington, a gift of Oscar Doyle Johnson, 1949.")
For a discussion of the elder Johnson, a noted collector of American art, see Nicholas Chilcott, A Champion of American Art, Chicago, 1975; he refers to Catharine on p. 30.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1963

  • French, American and Italian Review, Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, 1963, no. 36.

1969

  • Robert Henri: Painter-Teacher-Prophet, New York Cultural Center, 1969, addenda no. 2, repro.

2006

  • Extended loan for use by Ambassador Peter R. Coneway, U.S. Embassy residence, Bern, Switzerland, 2006-2008.

2011

  • From New York to Corrymore: Robert Henri and Ireland, Mint Museum Uptown, Charlotte; Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, 2011-2012, no. 12, repro.

Bibliography

1913

  • Macbeth, William. Paintings by American Artists: Colonial Portraits New York, 1913: 46, repro.

1921

  • Yarrow, William, and Louis Bouche, eds. Robert Henri: His Life and Works with Forty Reproductions. New York, 1921: 9, 104-105, repro.

1922

  • Pousette-Dart, Robert. Robert Henri. New York, 1922: unpaginated repro.

1954

  • Perlman, Bennard B. "Robert Henri." Art Digest 28, no. 19 (1 August 1954): 14-15, repro.

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 66, repro.

1975

  • Chilcott, Nicholas. A Champion of American Art. Chicago, 1975: 30.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 173, repro.

1981

  • Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: repro. 200, 202.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 561, no. 855, color repro.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 200, repro.

2012

  • Leeds, Valerie Ann, and Jonathan Stuhlman. From New York to Corrymore: Robert Henri and Ireland. Exh. cat. Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte; Georgia O'Keefe Museum, Santa Fe; Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY. Charlotte, 2012: 144, no. 12, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: Robert Henri; upper left of canvas reverse: Robert Henri; upper right of canvas reverse: 266 / H; across top horizontal stretcher bar reverse: CATHERINE [sic]

Wikidata ID

Q20191727

You may be interested in

Loading Results