"Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think."
"Perhaps whatever there is in my work that may be really interesting to others and surely what is interesting to me, is the result of a sometimes successful effort to free myself from any idea that what I produce must be art."
3 likes
Source: Robert Henri (1960). “The art spirit”, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
About the author
Same author
More quotes by Robert Henri
"Good composition is like a suspension bridge - each line adds strength and takes none away."
"When the artist is alive in any person, whatever his kind of work may be, he becomes an inventive, searching, daring, self-expressive creature. He becomes interesting to other people. He disturbs, upsets, enlightens, and opens ways for better understanding. Where those who are not artists are trying to close the book, he opens it and shows there are still more pages possible."
"Paint the flying spirit of the bird rather than its feathers."
"The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable."
"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."