The Art Spirit

Buy The Art Spirit by Robert Henri.

I recently rediscovered my copy in our move Uptown. And I can certainly guarantee that be you painter, actor, blogger or just all-around free-thinker, this book will speak to you.

One of the best teachers that I had while at NYU, Tony Award nominee Mr. Michael Krass, recommends that you shuffle through the pages nightly, not taking in the chapters one by one but rather experiencing the work viscerally and completely at random.

Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

And with that, some of my favorite pearls from Robert Henri's The Art Spirit. All, interestingly enough, in reference to classical painting. But also all, as far as I can tell, as much in reference to life...



Cherish your own emotions and never undervalue them.

For an artist to be interesting to us he must have been interesting to himself. He must have been capable of intense feeling, and capable of profound contemplation.

The hunter is learning to see and to understand--to enjoy.

Don't worry about the rejections. Everybody that's good has gone through it. Don't let it matter if your works are not "accepted" at once. The better or more personal you are the less likely they are of acceptance.

You pass people on the street, some are for you, some are not.

The eye must be alert; must see the influence of one thing on another and bring all things into relation.

ORIGINALITY; Don't worry about your originality. You could not get rid of it even if you wanted to. It will stick to you and show you up for better or worse in spite of all you or anyone else can do.

Icy, cold , hard, brittle, timid, fearsome, apologetic, pale, negative, vulgar, lazy, common, puritanical, smart, evasive, glib, to add to the list and repeat a few. Strokes of the brush may be divided into many families...

The living model is never the same... He is always changing.