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Having returned to New York City in 1900 following an extended stay in Paris, Henri eventually established a studio and living quarters in the Sherwood Building on the corner of West 57th Street and Sixth Avenue. In March 1902 the dealer William Macbeth encouraged him to paint New York cityscapes for inclusion in a solo exhibition scheduled for the following month. Henri hoped to produce a painting for the occasion that would achieve a degree of critical acclaim comparable to that of La Neige (1899, Louvre, Paris), a snowy view of the Rue de Sèvres in Paris that had been purchased for the Musée du Luxembourg in 1899. While a buyer was found for Snow in New York (National Gallery of Art, D.C.), only one other work sold, prompting Henri to turn his attention primarily to portraiture.
ProvenanceKraushaar Galleries, New York.
Meredith Long & Company, Houston. (as City at Night, New York)
Dr. Harold Rifkin (1916-1997) and Beatrice (née Weiss) Rifkin (1920-2007), New York.
Adelson Galleries, Inc., New York, from the above, February 1999. (as City at Night, New York)
Private collection, acquired from the above, July 1999.
Gift to the present owner from the above, son of the above, 2003.
Bonhams, New York, May 2024
Artist
Robert Henri
(American, 1865 - 1929)
Dull Weather, Rue de Sèvres
Datec. 1899
MediumOil on board
DimensionsSight: 6 × 4 3/4 in. (15.2 × 12.1 cm)
Object numberN0019.2024
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Museum Purchase.
Label TextHenri and his first wife, Linda married in 1898 and spent the next two years on an extended honeymoon in France. This small oil sketch depicts a view down Rue de Sèvres in Paris looking towards the dome of Hôtel des Invalides. Henri, painting quickly is able to capture the bustling Rue de Sèvres, while also alluding to winter in the city through the snow hinted at in the street, reduced to a greying slush by the Parisians going about their day.Having returned to New York City in 1900 following an extended stay in Paris, Henri eventually established a studio and living quarters in the Sherwood Building on the corner of West 57th Street and Sixth Avenue. In March 1902 the dealer William Macbeth encouraged him to paint New York cityscapes for inclusion in a solo exhibition scheduled for the following month. Henri hoped to produce a painting for the occasion that would achieve a degree of critical acclaim comparable to that of La Neige (1899, Louvre, Paris), a snowy view of the Rue de Sèvres in Paris that had been purchased for the Musée du Luxembourg in 1899. While a buyer was found for Snow in New York (National Gallery of Art, D.C.), only one other work sold, prompting Henri to turn his attention primarily to portraiture.
ProvenanceKraushaar Galleries, New York.
Meredith Long & Company, Houston. (as City at Night, New York)
Dr. Harold Rifkin (1916-1997) and Beatrice (née Weiss) Rifkin (1920-2007), New York.
Adelson Galleries, Inc., New York, from the above, February 1999. (as City at Night, New York)
Private collection, acquired from the above, July 1999.
Gift to the present owner from the above, son of the above, 2003.
Bonhams, New York, May 2024
On View
On view
