In the Champs-Élysées

Robert Henri spent the majority of 1895 to 1897 in Europe, primarily working in France, where he dedicated himself to capturing his surroundings, as evidenced by the present work. "He made hundreds of tiny sketches (pochades) of city scenes, made on the spot. He did not paint any city scenes from memory...Some of Henri's greatest work will be found in the landscapes and city streets painted in Paris and New York back in the Nineties and turn of the century." (Robert Henri: Painter, exhibition catalogue, Wilmington, Delaware, 1984, p. xi) Indeed, the present work is a lively example of Henri's skill while painting en plein air, complete with spontaneous brushwork that evokes his impressions of the bustling scene around him.