Portrait of Maja in Dark Blue

Beginning in the first decade of the 20th-century, Henri devoted his attention almost exclusively to portraiture and figure painting. In contrast to many of his contemporaries of the turn of the 19th-century, Henri was less concerned with his models’ physical beauty than with their spirit and personality. Henri treats his model Maja with obvious delight and warmth. His diploma painting of 1903 is characteristic of his works of 1900-1910 in its spot-lit treatment of form, dark background and fluid brushwork.