Robert Henri
You will never draw the sense of a thing unless you are feeling it at the time you work.Collection: Drawing
In certain books—some way in the first few paragraphs you know that you have met a brother.Collection: Brother
There is only one reason for art in America, and that is that the people of America learn the means of expressing themselves in their own time, and their own land.Collection: Art
You pass people on the street, some are for you, some are not.Collection: People
Art tends toward balance, order, judgment of relative values, the laws of growth, the economy of living – very good things for anyone to be interested in.Collection: Art
Get the few main lines and see what lines they call out.Collection: Lines
Art is, after all, only a trace – like a footprint which shows that one has walked bravely and in great happiness.Collection: Art
Look for echoes. Sometimes the same shape or direction will echo through the picture.Collection: Echoes
Drawing is not following a line on the model, it is drawing your sense of the thing.Collection: Drawing
The pursuit of happiness is a great activity. One must be open and alive. It is the greatest feat man has to accomplish, and spirits must flow. There must be courage. There are no easy ruts to get into which lead to happiness. A man must become interesting to himself and must become actually expressive before he can be happy.Collection: Pursuit Of Happiness
The big painter is one who has something to say. He thus does not paint men, landscape or furniture, but an idea.Collection: Men
When we respect the nude, we will no longer have any shame about it.Collection: Beauty
The object, which is back of every true work of art, is the attainment of a state of being, a state of high functioning, a more than ordinary moment of existence. In such moments activity is inevitable, and whether this activity is with brush, pen, chisel, or tongue, its result is but a by-product of the state, a trace, the footprint of the state.Collection: Art
The work of the art student is no light matter. Few have the courage and stamina to think 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.Collection: Art
I paint for the sole purpose of magnifying the privilege of being alive.Collection: Purpose
A Curve does not exist in its full power until contrasted with a straight line.Collection: Curves
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.Collection: Worry
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?Collection: Art
It seems to me that before a man tries to express anything to the world he must recognize in himself an individual, a new one, very distinct from others.Collection: Men
The pernicious influence of the prize and medal giving in art is so great that it should be stopped. History proves that juries in art have been generally wrong.Collection: Art
The man who has honesty, integrity, the love of inquiry, the desire to see beyond, is ready to appreciate good art.Collection: Art
There is nothing more entertaining than to have a frank talk with yourself. Few do it-frankly. Educating yourself is getting acquainted with yourself.Collection: Educating Yourself
I have heard it very often said that an artist does not need intelligence, that his is the province of the soulCollection: Artist
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.Collection: Space
The reason for the survival of the award system is purely commercial.Collection: Awards
Strokes carry a message whether you will it or not. The stroke is just like the artist at the time he makes it. All the certainties, all the uncertainties, all the bigness of his spirit and the littlenesses are in it.Collection: Artist
The most vital things in the look of a landscape endure only for a moment. Work should be done from memory; memory of that vital moment.Collection: Memories
There has never been a painting that was more beautiful than nature. The model does not unfold herself to you, you must rise to her. She should be the inspiration for your painting. No man has ever over-appreciated a human being.Collection: Beautiful
Self-acquainta nce is a rare condition.Collection: Self
The true artist regards his work as a means of talking with men [and women], of saying his say to himself and to others. It is not a question of pay.Collection: Art
Work always as if you were a master, expect from yourself a masterpiece.Collection: Masters
In great art there is no beginning and end in point of time. All time is comprehended.Collection: Art
To paint is to know how to put nothing on canvas, and have it look like something when you stand back.Collection: Looks
The fun of living is that we have to make ourselves, after all.Collection: Fun
Painting should never look as if it were done with difficulty, however difficult it may actually have been.Collection: Looks
The artist should have a powerful will. He should be powerfully possessed by one ideaCollection: Powerful
In a tree there is a spirit of life, a spirit of growth and a spirit of holding its head up.Collection: Tree
Lines are results, do not draw them for themselves.Collection: Drawing
If you do not act on a suggestion at first, you grow dull to its message.Collection: Procrastination
A mountain seen in the haze of distance must nevertheless look a solid heavy mountain.Collection: Distance
Count on big lines to express your ideas.Collection: Ideas
I am interested in the size of your intention. It is better to overstate the important than to understate it.Collection: Important
If you work from memory, you are most likely to put in your real feeling.Collection: Memories
By my teaching I hope to inspire you to personal activity and to present your vision.Collection: Teaching
The model is not to be copied, but to be realized.Collection: Models
There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom.Collection: Usual
You can do anything you want to do. What is rare is this actual wanting to do a specific thing: wanting it so much that you are practically blind to all other things, that nothing else will satisfy you.Collection: Work
It is the common defect of modern art study. Too many students do not know why they draw.Collection: Art
The ignorant are to be found as much among the educated as among the uneducated.Collection: Education