robert henri
Go on anyway
“Do not let the fact that things are not made for you, that conditions are not as they should be, stop you. Go on anyway. […]
Internal combustion
“The task of art is to transform what is continuously happening to us, to transform all of these things into symbols, into music, into something […]
Joy of creative work
“Art is simply a result of expression during right feeling. It’s a result of a grip on the fundamentals of nature, the spirit of life, […]
Feedback loop
“Technique must be solid, positive, but elastic, must not fall into formula, must adapt itself to the idea. And for each new idea there must […]
No thing is beautiful
“The real study of an art student is more of a development of that sensitive nature and appreciative imagination with which he was so fully […]
They made their language. You make yours.
Quotes from The Art Spirit, by Robert Henri: “The work of the art student is no light matter. Few have the courage and stamina to […]
Stones to step on or stones to avoid
“Every student should put down in some form or other his findings. All any man can hope to do is to add his fragment to […]
Beauty rests in the expression
“Artists are sometimes asked, “Why do you paint ugly and not beautiful things?” The questioner rarely hesitates in his judgment of what is beautiful and […]
All good drawing or painting is compositional
“Here is the model with light on his face, a white collar, a brown coat, black tie, black hair, gray background. I have named enough […]
The great departure
“The object of painting a picture is not to make a picture — however unreasonable this may sound. The picture, if a picture results, is […]
An artist has got to get acquainted with himself
“I know I have said a lot when I say, “You can do anything you want to do.” But I mean it. There is reason […]
Approved taste
“One of the great difficulties of an art student is to decide between his own natural impressions and what he thinks should be his impressions. […]
There are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual
“There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual — become clairvoyant. We reach […]
To apprehend beauty is to work for it
“The appreciation of art should not be considered as merely a pleasurable pastime. To apprehend beauty is to work for it. It is a mighty […]
The impulse for beauty can force its way through every boundary
“Everything that is beautiful is orderly, and there can be no order unless things are in their right relation to each other. Of this right […]
It takes wit, and interest and energy to be happy
“Appreciation of life is not easy. One says he must earn a living — but why? Why live? It seems as though a great many […]
Play as a little child plays
“The man who believes that money is the thing is cheating himself. The artist teaches that the object of a man’s life should be to […]