Robert Henri > Quotes

“The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.”
― Robert Henri

“Do whatever you do intensely.”
― Robert Henri

“Don't worry about your originality. You couldn't get rid of it even if you wanted to. It will stick with you and show up for better or worse in spite of all you or anyone else can do.”
― Robert Henri

“Art is, after all, only a trace – like a footprint which shows that one has walked bravely and in great happiness.”
― Robert Henri

“There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual- become clairvoyant. We reach then into reality. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom. It is in the nature of all people to have these experiences; but in our time and under the conditions of our lives, it is only a rare few who are able to continue in the experience and find expression for it.”
― Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

“I am interested in art as a means of living a life; not as a means of making a living.”
― Robert Henri

“Do whatever you do intensely. The artist is the man who leaves the crowd and goes pioneering. With him there is an idea which is his life.”
― Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

“All real works of art look as though they were done in joy.”
― Robert Henri

“When the artist is alive in any person, whatever his kind of work may be, he becomes an inventive, searching, daring, self-expressive creature. He becomes interesting to other people. He disturbs, upsets, enlightens, and opens ways for better understanding. Where those who are not artists are trying to close the book, he opens it and shows there are still more pages possible.”
― Robert Henri

“There is no art without contemplation.”
― Robert Henri

“Color is only beautiful when it means something.”
― Robert Henri

“Cherish your own emotions and never under-value them.

We are not here to do what has already been done.”
― Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

“Many things that come into the world are not looked into. The individual says 'My crowd doesn't run that way.' I say, don't run with crowds.”
― Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

“You pass people on the street, some are for you, some are not.”
― Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

“A tree growing out of the ground is as wonderful today as it ever was. It does not need to adopt new and startling methods.”
― Robert Henri

“Genius is not a possession of the limited few, but exists in some degree in everyone. Where there is natural growth, a full and free play of faculties, genius will manifest itself.”
― Robert Henri

“A common defect of modern art study is that too many students do not know why they draw.”
― Robert Henri

“you will never find yourself unless you quit preconceiving what you will be when you have found yourself.”
― Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

“A Curve does not exist in its full power until contrasted with a straight line.”
― Robert Henri

“Beauty is an intangible thing; can not be fixed on the surface, and the wear and tear of old age on the body cannot defeat it. Nor will a "pretty" face make it, for "pretty" faces are often dull and empty, and beauty is never dull and it fills all spaces.”
― Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

“A GREAT PAINTER will know a great deal about how he did it, but still he will say, “How did I do it?” The real artist’s work is a surprise to himself.”
― Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

“Art is the giving by each man of his evidence to the world. Those who wish to give, love to give, discover the pleasure of giving. Those who give are tremendously strong.”
― Robert Henri

“In every human being there is the artist, and whatever his activity, he has an equal chance with any to express the result of his growth and his contact with life. I don't believe any real artist cares whether what he does is 'art' or not. Who, after all, knows what art is?”
― Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

“Those who cannot begin do not finish.”
― Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

“The work of the art student is no light matter. Few have the courage and stamina to see it through. You have to make up your mind to be alone in many ways. We like sympathy and we like to be in company. It is easier than going it alone. But alone one gets acquainted with himself, grows up and on, not stopping with the crowd. It costs to do this. If you succeed somewhat you may have to pay for it as well as enjoy it all your life.”
― Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

“You form a society: that limits you. Adopt a name, and you've limited yourself again; draw up a constitution and bylaws and you've made a groove, a rut, that hampers your growth. You think you can fix your course and move straight along it. But sometimes the important thing is to strike out sidewise.”
― Robert Henri

“A work of art is the trace of a magnificent struggle.”
― Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

“There is weakness in pretending to know more than you know or in stating less than you know.”
― Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

“In certain books—some way in the first few paragraphs you know that you have met a brother.”
― Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

“Pretend you are dancing or singing a picture. A worker or painter should enjoy his work, else the observer will not enjoy it.”
― Robert Henri