{"data":{"id":"597","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":597,"topgoose_id":3117,"tms_id":597,"display_name":"Robert Henri","sort_name":"Henri Robert","display_date":"1865–1929","begin_date":"1865","end_date":"1929","biography":"\u003cp\u003eLeader of the renegade circle of artists known as the Eight and father of the Ashcan School, Robert Henri was one of the most influential figures in American art at the turn of the twentieth century. With a group of colleagues that included \u003ca href=\"/artists/1229\"\u003eJohn Sloan\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"/artists/1215\"\u003eEverett Shinn\u003c/a\u003e, and \u003ca href=\"/artists/493\"\u003eWilliam Glackens\u003c/a\u003e, Henri rebelled against the accepted subject matter and formal strictures of the conservative art academies of the time, which exerted almost complete control over the prospects of young artists. Henri encouraged his followers to paint everyday urban life in a loose gestural style and dramatic palette inspired by Spanish painting. During his long tenure as a teacher, he nurtured the budding careers of a generation of American artists, including \u003ca href=\"/artists/621\"\u003eEdward Hopper\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"/artists/94\"\u003eGeorge Bellows\u003c/a\u003e, and \u003ca href=\"/artists/330\"\u003eStuart Davis\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn his own work Henri favored\nportraiture over the urban landscapes of his\ncohorts. “Human faces,” he remarked, “are\nincentive to great adventures. . . . The picture\nis the trace of the adventure.” This portrait\nof Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was\ncommissioned by the subject herself—\none of Henri’s most important patrons, who\nby 1916 had founded the Whitney Studio,\nan organization devoted to supporting\nAmerican artists. Through the self-assured,\nreclining pose and silk lounging pajamas,\nthe painting captures Mrs. Whitney’s\nunconventional spirit, casting her as a\nthoroughly modern woman. Although it was\nexhibited at the Whitney Studio the\nyear it was completed, Mrs. Whitney’s\nhusband was scandalized by the image of\nhis wife wearing pants and refused to\ndisplay it in their Fifth Avenue mansion.\nShe subsequently hung it in her Greenwich\nVillage studio, which also served as an\ninformal salon for other artists.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":true,"artport":false,"biennial":false,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500005486","wikidata_id":"Q724860","created_at":"2017-08-31T10:22:22.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-03-31T07:04:06.111-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/597/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/597/exhibitions"}}}}