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Robert Henri | Painter and Art teacher

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Robert Henri (1865-1929) was an influential American painter and a leading figure of the Ashcan School of American realism.
He is best known for his belief in "art for life's sake", which encouraged artists to find subject matter in the everyday, often gritty, urban life around them, and for his profound impact as a teacher on a generation of American artists.



Key Contributions

Ashcan School:

Henri was the ideological father and a central figure of this movement, which rejected the genteel traditions of American academic art and Impressionism in favor of depicting unvarnished scenes of modern urban life, especially the working-class neighborhoods of New York City.


"The Eight":

In 1908, in protest against the conservative and restrictive exhibition policies of the National Academy of Design, Henri organized a landmark independent exhibition at the Macbeth Galleries with seven other artists - Arthur B. Davies, William Glackens, Ernest Lawson, George Luks, Maurice Prendergast, Everett Shinn, and John Sloan.
This group became known as "The Eight".


Influential Teacher:

Henri taught at the New York School of Art (from 1902) and the Art Students League of New York (1915-1928), where his students included future art luminaries such as Edward Hopper, George Bellows, Rockwell Kent, and Stuart Davis.


The Art Spirit:

His philosophies on art and teaching, which emphasized freedom, independence, and personal expression, were compiled from his classroom notes and published in the seminal 1923 book The Art Spirit, which remains popular among artists and students today.


Democratic Portraiture:

While his associates focused on urban landscapes, Henri favored portraiture, painting a diverse range of people - from street children to high-society women and Native Americans - treating all his subjects with a candid, non-romanticized dignity.


Style and Technique

Henri's style was characterized by bold, vigorous brushwork and a palette inspired by Old Masters like Velázquez, Goya, and Frans Hals.
His early works had a darker, more dramatic palette, though he later experimented with the color theories of Hardesty Maratta, leading to a more vibrant use of color in his later works, particularly those from his travels to Ireland and Santa Fe, New Mexico.