Robert Henri

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Sontich, Youngstown, Ohio

Private Collection, Ohio

Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts, New York  

Acquired from the above in 2019 by the present owner

The Arts, vol. 16, New York, September 1929, p. 2

American ArtSelections, vol. IV, The Chapellier Galleries, New York, 1974

New York, Macbeth Gallery, Recent Paintings by Robert Henri, April – May 1925

Rochester, University of Rochester, Memorial Art Gallery, Irish and Spanish Portraits by Robert Henri, January – February, 1926, no. 7

New York, Macbeth Gallery, Summer Exhibition: Paintings by American Artists, July – August 1926, no. 29 (as Spanish Girl)

Lynchburg, Virginia, Randolph-Macon Women’s College, Sixteenth Annual Exhibition of Paintings, March 1927, no. 8 (as Gypsy)

Buffalo, The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, Catalogue of the Twenty-Second Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, April - June 1928, no. 53

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, The 123rd Annual Exhibition of the Pennsylvanian Academy of the Fine Arts, January – March 1928, no. 328

New York, The Chapellier Galleries, Robert Henri, 1865–1929, October - November 1976, no. 72

Robert Henri and his followers pioneered the Ashcan School, and the movement’s spirit of resolute realism characterizes his striking, individualized portraits. To Henri, portraiture “express[ed] the dignity of life” and captured “the beauty of humanity” (Robert Henri, The Art Spirit, Philadelphia, 1923, p. 142). As such, Henri sought a wide variety of models, traveling extensively across the American Southwest and Europe, though he found Spain was “the most interesting foreign country in which to work,” returning seven times between 1900 and 1926 (Robert Henri, “In the World of Art and Artists: Art Notes,” The New York Times, 25 November 1906, p. 4).

Gypsy of Madrid dates to February 1924, towards the end of Henri’s final trip to Spain. The model, Augustina, is rendered with careful attention to detail, from her delicate gold rings to the ringlets of her hair. Henri captures her personality through her pose, which is both elegant and assertive. With one hand draped over the chair arm, the other on her hip, she engages the viewer directly. The piece is a gorgeous example of the artist’s later work, distinguished by forceful brushwork and saturated pinks. As an art instructor, Henri taught the color theories of pigment manufacturer H. G. Maratta. Maratta mapped individual colors to notes, forming a true “chromatic scale.” Certain combinations created particularly pleasant chords—based on its balance of reds, blue-greens, and ochres, Gypsy of Madrid would strike a dulcet C-major. Altogether, Gypsy of Madrid is a harmonious and visually commanding painting from Henri’s last Spanish sojourn.