Paint the flying spirit of the bird rather than its feathers.
Robert HenriRead
After all, the goal is not making art. It is living a life. Those who live their lives will leave the stuff that is really art.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The true essence of art comes from living authentically, not just from the act of creating art itself.
In this quote, Robert Henri emphasizes that the ultimate goal of life is not simply to produce art, but to experience life fully. He suggests that genuine art arises naturally from those who engage deeply with their existence, implying that the richness of life and authentic experiences are what inspire true artistic expression.
Themes
ArtLifeAuthenticityExperienceExpression
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about creativity at an art exhibition.
More from Robert Henri
All quotes βKnow what the old masters did. Know how they composed their pictures, but do not fall into the conventions they established. These conventions were right for them, and they are wonderful. They made their language. You make yours. All the past can help you.
Robert HenriRead
The sketch hunter moves through life as he finds it, not passing negligently the things he loves, but stopping to know them, and to note them down in the shorthand of his sketchbook.
Robert HenriRead
You form a society: that limits you. Adopt a name, and you've limited yourself again; draw up a constitution and bylaws and you've made a groove, a rut, that hampers your growth. You think you can fix your course and move straight along it. But sometimes the important thing is to strike out sidewise.
Robert HenriRead
Do not let the fact that things are not made for you, that conditions are not as they should be stop you. Go on anyway. Everything depends on those who go on anyway.
Robert HenriRead
Drawing is not following a line on the model, it is drawing your sense of the thing.
Robert HenriRead
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Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a joy for all seasons, a possession for all eternity.
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It is essential that the painter should develop not only his eyes, but also his soul, so that it too may be capable of weighing colors in balance.
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What does one prefer? An art that struggles to change the social contract, but fails? Or one that seeks to please and amuse, and succeeds?
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