Lady in Black with Spanish Scarf (O in Black with a Scarf)

Robert Henri

American

Robert Henri began his career at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he studied a curriculum designed by Thomas Eakins and Thomas Anshutz. From these artists he inherited a willingness to engage directly with the unique qualities and imperfections of his subjects. After a trip to Paris, Henri began to incorporate the visual effects of Impressionism into his images, which resulted in a highly original style of painting that represented the modern world with truth and vitality.

Born
1865
Died
1929
Lady in Black with Spanish Scarf (O in Black with a Scarf) by Robert Henri

Can a portrait capture someone’s mind?

When this portrait was painted, Marjorie Organ Henri had been married to the artist for less than two years. “O,” as Henri called her, was a successful cartoonist for the New York Journal, and her caricatures appeared regularly in print. This portrait challenged the conventions of society portraiture; posing her against a dark background, the artist’s psychological realism presents her as independent, confident, and self-possessed—the very model of the period’s “New Woman.”

Medium
Oil on canvas
Credit

Museum purchase, gift of the M.H. de Young Museum Society from funds donated by the Charles E. Merrill Trust

Item ID
66.27
Dimensions
77 1/4 x 37 in. (196.2 x 94 cm)
Date
1910
Country
Artist name
Robert Henri
Artwork location