Artwork
Edith Reynolds
Edith Reynolds is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Robert Henri. It dates from 1908 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left: Robert Henri
About this work
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting executed on canvas in 1908, typical of the portrait genre that Robert Henri specialized in.
The work is an oil painting executed on canvas in 1908, typical of the portrait genre that Robert Henri specialized in. Henri employed a relatively direct brushwork, layering thin washes of oil paint to model the sitter’s features while preserving the texture of the canvas support. The composition is modest in scale, measuring roughly 196 × 96 cm, and the handling reflects a balance between naturalistic rendering and the painter’s loose, expressive handling of light and color. As part of the National Gallery of Art’s collection since a 1956 gift, the painting remains well‑preserved, showing only minor surface craquelure consistent with its age.
History & Provenance
The portrait Edith Reynolds was painted by Robert Henri in 1908, using oil on canvas. The sitter, Edith Lindeley Reynolds (1883–1964), a resident of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, is recorded as the original owner. In 1956, the painting was donated to the National Gallery of Art (NGA), Washington, D.C., where it remains in the museum’s collection.
The portrait of Edith Reynolds, painted by Robert Henri in 1908, is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The work entered the museum's inventory in 1956 as a gift from the sitter, Edith Lindeley Reynolds, who resided in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. While the National Gallery of Art serves as the permanent location for this oil on canvas painting, the provided sources do not document specific exhibition history or accession numbers beyond the year of the gift.
Context
Robert Henri painted the portrait of Edith Lindeley Reynolds in 1908, a work that exemplifies his realist approach to contemporary portraiture and his engagement with the vibrant New York art circles of the early twentieth century. Held in the National Gallery of Art, the canvas entered the museum in 1956 as a gift from the sitter’s family, preserving a direct link to the sitter’s life in Wilkes‑Barre, Pennsylvania. Scholarship on Henri’s oeuvre frequently cites this portrait as a representative example of his ability to blend psychological depth with loose brushwork, situating it within broader discussions of American modernism and the evolution of portrait painting in the 1900s.
Overview
Robert Henri's 1908 oil on canvas portrait, Edith Reynolds, exemplifies his commitment to depicting modern individuals with unvarnished honesty. As a key figure in the Ashcan School, Henri moved away from conventional academic art, instead favoring a direct and expressive approach to portraiture. This work captures the sitter's distinct presence through its focused composition and dynamic execution.
Artist & collection
Artist
Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher.
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