The Art Spirit: Annotated with Illustrations

Written 100 years ago, The Art Spirit by Robert Henri is most influential book for artists, and especially American artists. It still remains one of the best selling books on art and creativity, and it attracts new readers with every generation. Henri with the assistance of Margery Ryerson prepared this book from four decades of his lecture notes and hundreds of letters to students and friends. The Art Spirit deserves to be in every artist’s library.Although Henri offers practical advice on painting, the book is not just about how to do art, but how to become an artist. For Henri, there was no greater human ambition than to be an artist. Although Henri’s own life was not without challenges, especially financial ones, he does not dwell on his personal adversities. The book is a glorification of the artist’s life, and how mundane difficulties pale to the joys of the artistic life. The Art Spirit provides insights into the mind of one of America’s most influential artists and teachers, and the reader–artist comes away with an uplifting sense in what it means to be a part of the great “Brotherhood” of art. One of the problems of the original edition was that Henri was a frequent name-dropper. In this new edition, names and terms are annotated along with illustrations, making the read more informative and enjoyable. It is the best of The Art Spirit reprints.