Robert Henri Real Quotations

Realize that a drawing is not a copy. It is a construction in very different materials. A drawing is an invention.

I can think of no greater happiness than to be clear-sighted and know the miracle when it happens. And I can think of no more real life than the adventurous one of living and liking and exclaiming the things of one's own time.

The real artist's work is a surprise to himself.

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?

Reality is obtained not by imitation, but by producing the sense of nature.

If you work from memory, you are most likely to put in your real feeling.

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

Paint what you feel. Paint what you see. Paint what is real to you.