Robert Henri Quotes about Art

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

Art cannot be separated from life. It is the expression of the greatest need of which life is capable, and we value art not because of the skilled product, but because of its revelation of a life's experience.

Art after all is but an extension of language to the expression of sensations too subtle for words.

No work of Art is really ever finished. They only stop at good places.

I am interested in art as a means of living a life; not as a means of making a living.

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.

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

Artists must be men of wit, consciously or unconsciously philosophers; read, study and think a great deal of life.

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.

Through art mysterious bonds of understanding and of knowledge are established among men.

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?

Everything depends on the attitude of the artist toward his subject. It is essential.

The only sensible way to regard the art life is that it is a privilege you are willing to pay for... You may cite honors and attentions and even money paid, but I would have you note that these were paid a long time after the creator had gone through his struggles.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Art when really understood is the province of every human being. It is simply a question of doing things, anything, well. It is not an outside, extra thing.

It is harder to see than it is to express. The whole value of art rests in the artist's ability to see well into what is before him.

All real works of art look as though they were done in joy.

Art is an outsider, a gypsy over the face of the earth.

Good composition is like a suspension bridge; each line adds strength and takes none away... Making lines run into each other is not composition. There must be motive for the connection. Get the art of controlling the observer – that is composition.

Art need not be intended. It comes inevitably as the tree from the root, the branch from the trunk, the blossom from the twig. None of these forget the present in looking backward or forward. They are occupied wholly with the fulfillment of their own existence.

It is the common defect of modern art study. Too many students do not know why they draw.

The man who has honesty, integrity, the love of inquiry, the desire to see beyond, is ready to appreciate good art. He needs no one to give him an 'Art Education'; he is already qualified. He needs but to see pictures with his active mind, look into them for the things that belong to him, and he will find soon enough in himself an art connoisseur and an art lover of the first order.