Cathedral Woods - Robert Henri Visual Essay

 Robert Henri 10 Paintings

Cathedral Woods, Monhegan Island, Maine
1918-1919
with quotations from:
The Art Spirit, Robert Henri (1865-1929),
collected by his student, Margery Ryerson
J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, PA, 1923

1
"A tree growing out of the ground is as wonderful today
as it ever was. It does not need to adopt new and startling methods."
The Reader in the Forest
Monhegan Island, Maine
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel on wove paper, 13" x 20" (w x h), 1918
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX


2
"We read books. They make us think. It matters
very little whether we agree with the books or not."

The Art Spirit,
Robert Henri (1865-1929),
Margery Ryerson (1886-1989),
J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, PA, 1923

Robert Henri's philosophical and practical musings were collected by former pupil Margery Ryerson and published as The Art Spirit in 1923, a book that remains in print today, over a hundred years later. Henri's other students include George Bellows, Arnold Franz Brasz, Stuart Davis, Edward Hopper, Rockwell Kent, John Sloan, Minerva Teichert, Margery Ryerson and many more.Margery Ryerson's art is included in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and had a 2025 retrospective exhibition at the New York State Museum: Margery Ryerson: Art is Contagious Gallery Opening. She lived to be 102.

Jackie

(Student and Quotation Collector)

Margery Ryerson (1886-1989), American

dry point, Smithsonian American Art Museum 

3

"No work of art is really ever finished.
They only stop at good places."
Cathedral Woods, Monhegan Island
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Oil on canvas, 26" x 32" (w x h), 1911
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH

4
"Art need not be intended. It comes inevitably as the tree
from the root, the branch from the trunk, the blossom from the twig."

Edge of the Island Woods, Monhegan
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel on paper, 19" x 12" (w x h), 1918
Alexandre Gallery, New York, NY

5
"It is harder to see than it is to express."
Through the Trees, Monhegan Island, Maine
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Oil on panel, 20" 15" (w x h), 1913
Christie's 2021 auction sold $162,500 USD

6
"The effect of brilliancy is to be obtained principally
from the oppositions of cool colors with warm colors,
and the opposition of grave colors with bright colors.
If all the colors are bright there is no brightness."
Under the Trees, Monhegan
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel, 1918

7
"A great painter will know a great deal about how he did it,
but still... will say, 'How did I do it?' The real artist's
work is a surprise to himself."
Maine Landscape
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel, 1919

8
"Those who cannot begin do not finish."
Woodland Scene, Monhegan, Maine
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel, 1918

9
"Whatever you feel or think your exact state
at the exact moment of your brush touching the canvas
is in some way registered in that stroke."
The Woods at Sunset
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel on paper, 20" x 13" (w x h), 1918

10
"Keep your old work. You did it.
There are virtues and there are faults in it for you to study.
You can learn more from yourself than you can from anyone else."
The Woods, Monhegan Island
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel on canvas, 13" x 20" (w x h)
Sold, Questroyal Fine Art, New York, NY

11
"Brilliancy is going toward color, not toward white."
Sunlight in the Woods
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel on paper, 19" x 15" (w x h), 1918
Alexandre Gallery, New York, NY

12
"There is no art without contemplation."
The Reader's Tree
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel on paper, 12" x 20" (w x h), 1918
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY