American art of the twentieth century cannot be discussed without reference to Robert Henri (pronounced hen-rye) whose essential message to the world of artists, patrons, and public was to seek a truly American outlook in painting and sculpture of the day. Henri proposed that what is necessary for art in America is first an appreciation of the great native ideas…and then the achievement of masterly freedom in expressing them. He encouraged artists to take note of the art of France but to avoid imitation of visual information. Rather, he believed that art should express the artist’s own enounter with emotion, with mood, and with feeling toward or from the sitter. Having a direct encounter with his subject freed him to paint or sculpt with an interpretation that was clearly his own, rather than the achievement of verisimilitude that could be criticized for its lack of memory or of skill in the mere recording of nature. Henri engendered a coterie of artists and friends wherever he went. After graduating from art school at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia, Henri spent three years at the Académie Julian in France where he explored art of both the past and the avant-garde present. He returned to Philadelphia in 1891 to teach at the Academy but soon became embroiled in bitter controversy over his support of the Impressionist style that had begun to appear in his work. At weekly open house sessions in his studio, he attracted like-minded artists who became lifelong adherents to his ideas. In 1895 he led a small group of artist friends through Europe to seek reassurance for his artistic goals but instead discovered the dark, low-key tonalities of the Dutch paintings. In Henri’s work and that of his colleagues, the new taste for limited palettes of grays and drab colors began to appear which in America became a movement termed “Tonalism.” This could be seen in the paintings of Whistler, George Inness, and many others in addition to those of Henri and his friends. Henri retained this darkness in his paintings even as he eventually introduced a later bright coloration that continued until the end of his life. Finding his place in Philadelphia difficult in opposing the influence of the Academy, Henri moved to New York City in 1900. For a brief time he taught in William Merritt Chase’s art school gaining popularity for his charismatic performance as a dissident who protested the conservative practices of the National Academy of Design. As a result he put together a group called “The Eight,” who in 1908 exhibited their new ideas about subject matter, focusing upon the landscape of the New York street in a manner of which was later described as “The Ash-Can School.” The tendency at this time of artists to mount exhibitions of their protestations against tradition in the artworld provided a generative force for the founding of such European movements as Cubism, Fauvism, and many other artistic statements that resisted realism in favor of abstraction. Henri’s group was clearly not in conflict with realism; it was more interested in the opportunities for the dissemination of new ideas regarding subject matter, freedom for the artist, and the application of paint. Such was the flavor of the times when Henri became involved in the group of artists that organized the Armory Show, a vast exhibition of avant-garde works from both Europe and American that changed the course of history in terms of the new direction American art was to take. Over twelve-hundred paintings and sculptures appeared in an exhibition at the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue in February 1913, an event that would rock the artworld. Among those artists who were closest to Henri were John Sloan, William Glackens, and George Luks who followed him from Philadelphia. Later other artists who were to feel his influence included: George Bellows, Rockwell Kent, Arthur B. Davies, Maurice Prendergast, and many others. His fruitful energies in teacher appear in his book, The Art Spirit, that contains his ideas about art: texts for the assertion of the artist’s position in 20th century America. The book is still in print to this day. Henri’s influence extended beyond New York City. His communications with Rockwell Kent and George Bellows encouraged these artists to visit and paint on Monhegan Island, Maine, introducing New York artists to the northern environs to leave their impact from that time forward. Henri’s influence continued into mid-20th century and beyond, although before his death in 1921, the artist’s writings had much to say about the use of subjects and their rightful place in the history of American art. A significant collection of paintings by Robert Henri and his contemporaries is on loan to the Lore Degenstein Gallery from the University of Nebraska through the efforts of Smith Kramer. We are particularly appreciative of the Charles B. Degenstein endowment that continues to support the gallery’s programs.   Dr. Valerie Livingston   The Pink Pinafore (Mary Ann Cafferty), Robert Henri, Oil on canvas, 1926, 24 x 20" (detail)