Robert Henri
(1865-1929)

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Robert Henri was an American painter of the Ashcan school, born in Cincinnati, Ohio by the name Robert Henry Cozad. Henri’s family moved to Nebraska in 1871 and founded the town, Cozad. In 1882 the family was forced to move to Denver, Colorado after his father shot a man over a land dispute. Upon the move, the family decided to hide their identity by not using the name Cozad.

In 1883 Henri headed eastward, making his first paintings in New York and New Jersey. Henri began to formally study painting in 1886 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Henri continued his studies in Paris at the Académie Julian under the instructor William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Henri was influenced by the Impressionist movement, which was greatly popular in France. Henri took additional courses at the Ecole des Beaux Arts before retuning to Philadelphia in 1891.

Upon Henri’s return to the United States, he was invited to teach at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women. Henri remained active in his painting and formed a group known as the Philadelphia Four, which included William Glackens, George Luks, Everett Shinn and John French Sloan. The group would refer to themselves as the “Charcoal Club”, and get together for readings of Emerson, Whitman, Zola and Thoreau.

Henri made frequent visits to Paris, where he would paint on pocketsize panels called “pochades”. Henri’s easily transportable work became more spontaneous.

In 1902 Henri relocated to begin a teaching position at the New York School of Art. Henri taught many students who would become extremely well-know in the future, including Edward Hopper, Rockwell Kent, George Bellows and Stuart Davis.

Henri consistently countered the National Academy of Design, and organized his own show known as “The Eight”. The participants of this show later became the Ashcan school. Henri was also an important organizer of the 1910 Exhibition of Independent Artists and the 1913 Armory Show.

Robert Henri played an important role in the Modern art movement in America. Henri’s paintings are now in major American art collections across the United States. Do you think you own a painting by Robert Henri? Contact us. We are the experts on Robert Henri.