Robert Henri – 1865-1929

Henri led early 20thcentury American art away from academic eclecticism—the imitation of earlier styles— toward a realism that embraced the modern urban landscape as a rich and exciting subject. Some critics derided his work and the work of the many American artists he influenced as the “Ashcan School,” but he and his followers accepted the label and continued to develop this new form of unsentimental urban and industrial realism that was unique to America.