Week 2 – October 20, 2025: Robert Henri’s Michael & O’Malley Home

Robert Henri, Michael, 1913, Oil on canvas, 18 x 14 in.

Robert Henri, O’Malley Home (Achill Island, County Mayo, Ireland), 1913, Oil on canvas

Robert Henri was born in Cincinnati and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts earning his living as a newspaper illustrator in New York City and as an art educator in Philadelphia. Suburban life most likely influenced his work, as he was an astute observer of city streets and ordinary people. As a result, he has been given the credit for paving the way for the development of twentieth-century American Realism. Realism is a tendency whereby the artist in question has either subverted or overlooked altogether, academy (or typical orthodox) standards in pursuit of a more “authentic”, or “relevant” figurative art. Realist art typically responds to contemporary events and situations, sometimes as a form of social commentary or documentation. Henri became the leader of a group known as “The Eight” (as they were first known), with members such as John Sloan (1871-1951), George Luks (1866-1933), George Bellows (1882-1925), and others who became known as the Ashcan School. These artists, who turned away from the romantic ideals of the Impressionists, focused instead on the hard realities of urban living. Realists like Henri promoted archetypal American rural subjects that embodied the values of hard work, community, and austerity. Henri’s early works were small landscapes, but he made his name as a painter of larger-scale, unsentimental portraits, such as Michael, painted in 1913.

Henri’s painting process worked well to the advantage of creating portraits of children, as his motto was to paint quickly, and the faster he could paint the better. He believed a portrait should be completed in one session. For Michael Lavelle, the sitter in this portrait, that was surely music to his ears. Despite sporting a newly made rich peacock blue sweater for the sitting, he surely would have preferred to be engaged in recreation rather than being in a static pose.

Michael appears younger than his thirteen years of age, and this may be in large part due to Henri’s loose, swift but heavy brushstrokes, particularly on the boy’s ruddy cheeks and upswept buttery colored hair. Yet his big blue eyes betray any interior restlessness and instead suggest a patience beyond his years, evoking a deliberate comprehension of Henri at work. Michael appears connected and in a relationship with the painting process and is more than willing to sacrifice any play time at hand. Henri’s penchant for painting the oftentimes grim realities of the cities may be embodied in Michael’s wise expression. It is also a testament to the respect he had for children. 

Michael was from Achill Island, County Mayo, in western Ireland when Henri painted him on one of his spring and summer trips. While Michael may not have had the “street-smarts” of New York, his rural and remote native island was modest at best. The island itself was painted by Henri (O’Malley Home), and while it portrays the rich green fields that stretch across the canvas, rough patches of yellow and brown depict a fallow land where rolling hills rise toward a cloud-filled sky, adding a sense of depth and scale to the composition. The Irish countryside while imagined as lush and green, was remote and isolated from the mainland.   The economy in 1913, when this portrait was painted, characterized a mix of traditional and modern industries. Heavily reliant on the sea, smaller cottage fishing industries were overtaken by the British imperial government. Michael’s family was more than likely part of the different social classes or ordinary seafaring people that Henri liked to paint. His blue sweater with its intricate cable patterns is known as a “yansey,” which was historically known to keep fishermen warm in harsh weather.

The heavy light and dark blue paint on Michael’s rounded cowl collar firmly weighs down the boy’s shoulders and uplifts his neck, giving Michael a knowing and confident carriage. A white curvy brushstroke of white paint on Michael’s upturned white shirt is the focal point of the portrait, leading the viewers eyes along his neck and into an immediacy with Michael himself. The portrait is devoid of trivial details, and the somber palette creates a dark, oppressive atmosphere. In the tradition of the Dutch Baroque, the technique of tenebrism makes way for Henri’s application of white paint, which spotlights, Michael’s forehead as a beacon of hope, even in a fluctuating economy. Henri has achieved a binary of sorts in this seemingly simple portrait. Michael is both candid and posed, old and young, wise and innocent, ordinary and unique. More than just a painter, however, Henri organized two independent exhibitions that challenged the hierarchical norms of the American art establishment by dispensing with jury selections and the awarding of prizes. Equally well respected as an art educator, Henri encouraged a process of self-discovery among his students, some of whom would join the ranks of America’s most important twentieth-century artists. His philosophies on art were published in the book The Art Spirit (1923), a tome that still exerts influence on artists to this day. Despite his realistic works, he supported and participated in the seminal 1913 Armory Show of European Modernism.