Hello, Hen-Rye

Robert Henri's inspiring book is on my studio shelf and if it's not on yours, you might want to grab a copy. The Art Spirit. I think Henri's words and paintings are perfection - a vigorous impressionist style - portraits and urban scenes and writing from candid, heartfelt life experience not just perfected technique. Thankfully, Henri also became an important teacher for a whole generation of painters in Philadelphia and New York. And he was a key member of the Ash Can group - colleagues who captured the essence of New York City's energy and the darker side of life...painted and sketched urban underdogs and gritty lifestyles. So, how is it you'd get to the root of Henri's perspective by stopping in Cozad, Nebraska?

In the middle of dusty American pickups, cornfields and buildings empty for want of usefulness, I happened on the Robert Henri Museum.

Across the vast train yard, the old Henri family hotel and colorful history holds a certain fascination. But what captured my heart was the obvious source of Robert Henri's life in a bleak Cozad among the "real" people he encountered and loved while he lived among them for some years. I think he likely carried them with him when he traipsed off to life as an art student and successful artist first in Paris and New York. In Henri's work, it seems that heart's lense is wide open as his skilled brush paints the eyes of his subjects—a touch of aplomb or sorrow here and there...and his love. I'd thought to pronounce his name as the French would...but it's simply Robert Hen-rye. How fitting is that purely plain name for this extraordinary man.