Skip to main content

Robert Henri Art

American, 1865-1929
Born Robert Henry Cozad, Robert shared a lineage with Mary Cassatt, making them cousins. Henri kept secret that relationship much as he did his birth name, in an effort to erase the reputation of a murder conviction against his father John Cozad. Robert's childhood reads like a Bret Harte short story. From card shark to real estate speculator, Henri's father moved the family from Cincinnati to Nebraska in a series of speculative land development projects. A disgruntled employee attacked Robert's father, and in self-defense his gun fired, killing the attacker. The murder conviction, later pardoned, led to the family's fleeing to Colorado, and assuming new identities. Robert Henri was sent to boarding school in New York, where he showed talent in writing and theater, creative endeavors encouraged by his mother. He discounted his creativity, thinking "artists surprised their parents... by doing masterpieces in their infancy... and [he] was not of that class" (Perlman). Nevertheless, painting buildings his father acquired in Atlantic City and producing political cartoons and color sketches for a small "museum" in his father's store caught the attention of admirers who encouraged Robert's art. James Albert Cathcart persuaded Henri to study at his alma mater, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where Henri enrolled in 1886. Robert Henri’s strong connection to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts began when he enrolled as a student in 1886. He entered the Academy eight months after Thomas Eakins had resigned. Despite Eakins’s absence, his strong influence on the curriculum at PAFA remained and it affected Henri profoundly. Eakins had instituted new educational policies at the Academy that were some of the most progressive in the country. Thomas Anshutz played an important role in Henri’s development as an artist. He upheld many of Eakins’s ideas and continued to build upon his teaching method; however, Anshutz was also open to change and cultivated individual artistic expression. A devoted teacher, he did not impose artistic formulas. Henri valued Anshutz’s criticism greatly, and determined to succeed as an artist, he worked tirelessly as his student. After studying for three years in Paris from 1888 to 1891, Henri returned to Philadelphia and the halls of the Academy. Steeped in Anshutz’s call for realism and plain painting without bravura, Henri challenged himself and the other artists he influenced to “paint what you feel . . . paint what is real to you.” And so began his lifelong pursuit of painting “life in the raw,” without what he deemed “academic artifice.” He promoted this credo to his many students and perhaps popularized it most in his sensational 1908 exhibition at Macbeth Gallery, where he and a group of artists, eventually called The Eight, mounted a show that was a direct affront to the National Academy of Design’s rejection of their work and the modernist spirit that shaped them as artists. Henri met four of the artists who made up The Eight, William Glackens, John Sloan, Everett Shinn, and George Luks, in Philadelphia, where they all took classes at PAFA.
to
4
4
4
2
1
Girl with Muff
By Robert Henri
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Girl with Muff" is aa American figurative portrait oil on canvas painting by Robert Henri in 1912. The artwork is 57 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches and, with the frame, is 64 1/4 x 45 1/4 x 2 ...
Category

Early 20th Century American Realist Robert Henri Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of a resting young lady (Marjorie Organ)
By Robert Henri
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Portrait of a resting young lady (Marjorie Organ) Black chalk on paper. c. 1907 signed in ink by Henri's nephew, John C. LeClair, the executor of the Henri estate "Robert Henri JLC" Note: The sitter for this portrait is depicted in two drawings of similar size, illustrated in Chapellier Galleries Inc., Robert Henri 1865-1929, 1976, nos. 15 & 16. Please see the attached photo of Marjorie Organ, Henri's second wife Condition: Excellent Image/Sheet size: 10 3/8 x 7 1/2 inches Provenance: Estate of the Artist John C. LeClair, Estate Adminitrator Private Collection, Pawling, New York Biography Robert Henri was born Robert Henry Cozad in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 24, 1865, the son of a professional gambler and real estate developer. The family lived in Nebraska and Colorado, but fled east when the father shot and killed a rancher over a land dispute and was indicted for manslaughter. They changed their last name because of the ensuing scandal and eventually settled in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the early 1880s. In 1886 Henri enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, where he studied under Thomas Anshutz, Thomas Hovenden...
Category

Early 1900s American Impressionist Robert Henri Art

Materials

Graphite

"Self Portrait / Sketch on verso" Robert Henri, Ashcan Self-Portrait Work
By Robert Henri
Located in New York, NY
Robert Henri Self Portrait / Sketch on verso Estate stamped lower right Ink on paper, graphite on paper 12 1/2 x 8 inches Born Robert Henry Cozad in Cincinnati, Ohio, Robert Henri became one of the leading personalities in American art, known for his teaching skills, ethnic portraits, especially spirited children, and insistence that artists should adhere to social realism and give rein to their own artistic instincts. During his growing up years, he lived between Cincinnati and Cozad, Nebraska, founded by his father John Jackson Cozad, a gambler and real estate promoter. When Robert was about 10 years old, his family moved to Cozad in Dawson County. Tension existed between John Cozad and the established ranchers who resented development, and a rancher attacked Cozad, who in self defense shot the man to death. Fearing for his life, he, his wife and two sons sneaked out of town and re convened in Atlantic City where they disguised their identity by taking other names. The father was later cleared of the charge, but he changed his name to Richard H. Lee, and passed his two sons off as adopted children named Frank Southern and Robert Henri. Robert chose a variation of his middle name to rhyme with "buckeye" to symbolize his Ohio roots. From Atlantic City, as a young man, he attended boarding school in New York City. He, having shown early art talent, studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts as a student of Thomas Anschutz and Thomas Hovenden...
Category

Early 1900s American Realist Robert Henri Art

Materials

Paper, Ink

"Sandy"
By Robert Henri
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Jim's of Lambertville Fine Art Gallery is proud to present this piece by Robert Henri (1865 - 1929). Robert Henri was born Robert Henry Cozad in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1865. At the ...
Category

1920s Other Art Style Robert Henri Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Related Items
1920's Peaceful Marsh Wetlands Watercolor Landscape with Birds
Located in Soquel, CA
Serene 1920's watercolor landscape of calm water snaking through a lush marshy wetland, dotted with small birds, wildflowers and swaying grass, by an unknown artist (American, 20th C...
Category

1920s American Impressionist Robert Henri Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Portrait Of A Young Gentleman, circa 1810 by Louis DEVEDEUX (1820-1874)
Located in Blackwater, GB
Portrait Of A Young Gentleman, 19th Century by Louis DEVEDEUX (1820-1874) sales to $40,000 Huge circa 1850 French portrait of a young gentleman, oil on canvas. Excellent quality an...
Category

19th Century Robert Henri Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Arquebusiers En Manoeuvre", After Marchetti
Located in Soquel, CA
Figurative landscape of four infantrymen in formation with their long arquebus guns by Adolphe Ancker (Dutch, 19th Century), after Marchetti. Signed and dated "Adolph Ancker 1888" lo...
Category

1880s American Impressionist Robert Henri Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Pencil

Composition with Reading Girl by an Unknown Artist, Ink on Paper, Dated 1922
Located in Stockholm, SE
Unknown Swedish Artist Composition with Reading Girl inkl on paper indistinctly signed and dated Eric Eric SON? 1922 frame included
Category

1920s Robert Henri Art

Materials

Paper, Ink

Antique American Oil Painting Portrait Young Woman Necklace Period Frame Rare
Located in Buffalo, NY
A beautiful and rare antique American portrait of a young woman in a stunning period frame, likely original to the piece. Unsigned but beaut...
Category

1890s American Realist Robert Henri Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of a Lady, Oil on Canvas, 1840's, In Style of Jacob Eichholtz
Located in Doylestown, PA
This interior portrait of a woman dressed in an elegant lace shawl is a 30" x 25" oil on canvas painting in the style of Jacob Eichholtz. The artist is unknown but the painting is believed to have been painted in the 1840's. It is not signed but framed and in good condition. Provenance: Private Collection, Old Queens Gallery...
Category

Mid-19th Century American Realist Robert Henri Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

This Ain't Sotheby's This is Texas, Rosemary Mahoney, Cattle Auctions,
Located in Houston, TX
"People, the human figure, fascinate me. Regardless of age or social status, I take particular interest in grasping the one moment that belongs solely to an individual." - Rosemary Mahoney...
Category

1990s American Impressionist Robert Henri Art

Materials

Charcoal, Carbon Pencil

Mid Century Figurative Portrait of a Boy with Toy Car
By Ralph Edward Joosten
Located in Soquel, CA
Realistic mid century portrait of a boy playing with an antique toy car by Ralph Joosten (American, 1928-2009). Signed "R. Joosten" in the lower left ...
Category

1960s American Realist Robert Henri Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

1924 Colored Pencil Drawing by George E Burr, Arizona Desert Storm Landscape
By George Elbert Burr
Located in Denver, CO
This vintage, original colored pencil drawing titled Untitled (Storm over Desert Landscape, Arizona) was created in 1924 by celebrated American artist George ...
Category

Early 20th Century American Impressionist Robert Henri Art

Materials

Paper, Color Pencil

Portrait of a Gentleman
Located in New York, NY
Circle of Jacques-Louis David (French, 18th Century) Provenance: Private Collection, Buenos Aires Exhibited: “Art of Collecting,” Flint Institute of Art, Flint, Michigan, 23 November 2018 – 6 January 2019. This vibrant portrait of young man was traditionally considered a work by Jacques-Louis David, whose style it recalls, but to whom it cannot be convincingly attributed. Rather, it would appear to be by a painter in his immediate following—an artist likely working in France in the first decade of the nineteenth century. Several names have been proposed as the portrait’s author: François Gérard, Louis Hersent, Anne-Louis Girodet (Fig. 1), Theodore Gericault, and Jean-Baptiste Wicar, among others. Some have thought the artist Italian, and have proposed Andrea Appiani, Gaspare Landi...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Robert Henri Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of a Gentleman
Portrait of a Gentleman
H 17.125 in W 13.75 in
Winnie the Pooh - Contemporary Figurative Oil Painting, Realistic Girl Portrait
By Kamil Lisek
Located in Salzburg, AT
KAMIL LISEK (born in 1980) Studied under the guidance of prof. Maciej Świeszewski at the faculty of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk. He graduated with distinction obta...
Category

2010s Realist Robert Henri Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Cross Roads, Kingston [Jamacia].
By Reynolds Beal
Located in New York, NY
Reynolds Beal painted this watercolor entitled “CROSS ROADS, KINGSTON.” in the spring of 1922. The paper size is 4 7/8 x 7 1/8" (12.4 x 18 cm). It is signed in pencil lower right a...
Category

Early 20th Century American Impressionist Robert Henri Art

Materials

Watercolor, Pencil

Previously Available Items
Central Park
By Robert Henri
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Central Park, painted circa 1901, is an early example of Henri's commitment to paint the world around him as he saw it. Painted en plein air, Henri often executed these quick studies...
Category

Early 1900s Ashcan School Robert Henri Art

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

"Haarlem Windmill, " Robert Henri, Dutch Rural Ashcan Scene, Netherlands
By Robert Henri
Located in New York, NY
Robert Cozad Henri (1865 - 1929) Haarlem Windmill, Holland, 1907 Oil on panel 5 x 6 1/2 inches Signed, titled, and dated on the reverse Provenance: Collection of Ezra & Cecile Zilkh...
Category

1990s Ashcan School Robert Henri Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

Courtship
By Robert Henri
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Courtship Graphite and black crayon, c. 1905 Signed by the artist in pencil lower left (see photo) Most probably inspired by a Paul Gavarni lithograph and executed while the artist w...
Category

Early 1900s American Impressionist Robert Henri Art

Materials

Crayon

Courtship
Courtship
H 10.75 in W 13.5 in
Dandy with Two Elegant Women
By Robert Henri
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed with the embossed estate stamp “RH” lower left; Stamped with the Estate of Robert Henri, Hirschl & Adler, NYC verso (Hirschl stock No. 0/53628) Provenance: Estate of the art...
Category

Early 1900s Ashcan School Robert Henri Art

Materials

Graphite

Robert Henri art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Robert Henri art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Robert Henri in canvas, crayon, fabric and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the Impressionist style. Not every interior allows for large Robert Henri art, so small editions measuring 14 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Martha Walter, John Singer Sargent, and Marjorie May Blake. Robert Henri art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $16,000 and tops out at $218,750, while the average work can sell for $117,375.

Artists Similar to Robert Henri

Recently Viewed

View All