The Art Spirit by Robert Henri, 1923, Excerpts and Materarts’ Comments

ART when really understood is the province of every human being.


It is simply a question of doing things, anything, well. It is not an outside, extra thing.


When the artist is alive in any person, whatever his kind of work may be, he becomes an inventive, searching, daring, self-expressing creature. He becomes interesting to other people. He disturbs, upsets, enlightens, and he opens ways for a better understanding. Where those who are not artists are trying to close the book, he opens it, shows there are still more pages possible.


The world would stagnate without him, and the world would be beautiful with him; and the world would be beautiful with him; for he is interesting to himself and he is interesting to others. He does not have to be a painter or sculptor to be an artist. He can work in any medium. He simply has to find the gain in the work itself, not outside it. 


Museums of art will not make a country an art country. But where there is the art spirit there will be precious works to fill museums. Better still, there will be the happiness that is in the making. Art tends towards balance, order, judgment of relative values, the laws of growth, the economy of living–very good things for anyone to be interested in.

Robert Henri at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan The Art Student (Miss Josephine Nivison), 1906

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the modern age art has gained a rightfully bad reputation because of all the charlatans who have hoodwinked the world with their “emperor’s clothing” Isms. So if I call myself an artist, I’ve found over my lifetime, my Christian brethren squint at me with expectation that I’m either a “painter of light” as the artist whom I most despise, Kinkade, (because of the patiently false pastel worlds he presents that I’d be loathe to live in) or that I’m a flaky bohemian druggie.

There doesn’t seem to be much comprehension of the above Henri description of how every person is an artist in living everyday life to the greatest expression possible in this short stage of mortal existence. Instead art has been twisted to represent the extremes of saccharine on the “good” side and “brimstone” on the bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NPR Kinkade article & audio link 

The pretenders and posers will always be with us just as tares in the church, we can identify them sometimes, but not always, so yes, I have to acquiesce to the possibility that Kinkade may be both an artist and a Christian.  I’ll leave him to his Maker, just as I am.

I’m just saying,  “What goes for art can go for life.” We can miss the fullness of everything if we don’t learn to see for ourselves by our own study and usage of our own eyes and minds of the wonderful Creator and His creation. If we are followers who have to have a worldly leader we will be mislead in on direction or the other away from the fullness of life. Expert is another title for letting someone else make our choices. Here is an example of one famous person’s trusting in another’s leading that cost him thousands of dollars and a lot of embarrassment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steve Martin Swindled 
The scope of what is believed to be Germany’s biggest art forgery scandal since World War II has reached as far as Hollywood. American actor Steve Martin bought one of the fake paintings in 2004 and later sold it at a loss of some 200,000 euros. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My request and wish is that Mr. Martin and everybody else should buy artworks they really like (without regard for other’s opinions) from living artists who are trying to make a living today while they and their families need it. Oh well, art appreciation isn’t taught by true hearts in very many places of education and I guess it never has been and never will be, sigh………………

ART when really understood is the province of every human being.


Edna Smith in a Japanese Wrap, Robert Henri





    



Robert Henri The Fisherman’s Son: Thomas Cafferty, 1925



Dew Drops & Clover & Wild Grasses

Once in a great while I’m steady enough with my little Canon PowerShotA560 to get a wonderful clear closeup!

Our Children’s Inheritance What Will Leave Them?

We are close to the ten year mark in the “war on terror”, so much propaganda and fear has been used to motivate the citizens of the United States, we’ve been taught in no uncertain terms that our danger is so severe that we should give up our Christian nation’s identity of “love your neighbor”.

We have become accomplices by our acceptance of the most monstrous acts against foreigners beginning with the Afghanistan and Iraqi vengeances in which by standing civilians were caught up in the bombings and raids which we excused ourselves for by justifying them as infidels who our government said hate our way of life, our democracy.

If we can open our eyes, take in these many events reported and recorded in the record of these increasingly vengeful ten years can we not repent before we have no heritage to give to our children?

My 17 year old son told me yesterday that he had been reading in the Bible where it says that it is the duty of parents to give an heritage to their children. He looked so clear eyed and venerable as he sat there strong and armed with his belief in those words, and I saw his incredulity that his future could be robbed by the unjust and thieves in his own country.

Proverbs 13:22 – A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

In the Hebrew this word Good is: towb, tobe; which has several meanings such as (1) bountiful, (2) prosperity or prosperous, and (3) wealthy.
In the Hebrew this word inheritance is: nachal, naw-khal’; which has several meanings such as (1) to inherit, (2) to occupy, (3) to be-queath, or to leave somebody something in a will, and (4) to distribute or to divide an estate.

Today we need to think of our posterity, look at the record of God’s Word.
In the course of this decade these present fears have come home to include everyone, no exceptions, no logic applies, nothing but the blind whim of the minimum wage TSA employee.

We’ve been persuaded to adopt defensive suspicion of everyone including our own countrymen & family while we look on “helplessly” as TSA molests our children, women, & handicapped. They have stopped ZERO terrorists in these humiliating random causeless invasions and traumatized thousands directly and millions indirectly by our witnessing these assaults.

The fear now extends into Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya, not many of us quite understand how our leaders have concluded these peoples threaten us. Yet we hear them threatening Yemen, Syria, and ultimately hoping to catch Iran in actionable cause for war. Now our ally Pakistan is under the light of interrogation for their accused harboring of Bin Laden.

All I can think is that this FEAR JUSTIFYING EVERY violent imprisonment and restriction of nations and individuals means all out war upon the entire Middle East + North African + Muslim world which will end in +Russian intervention, possible + Chinese too = World War 3.

We don’t want this! We don’t want to give our children debt and bondage and wars!
We have to stop before we lose every shred of our heritage as a free nation, however imperfect it has ever been, we still have the US Constitution although it is under dire threat, not from terrorists, but from the government that engaged us in this fear lead quest to go to war and conquer every nation and person the leaders of both political parties of our country arbitrarily label terrorist.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. [2 Chronicles 7:14]

Roses are Red & Yellow & Brilliant!

My youngest daughter said after reading & viewing the Judy Collins video over on my other Mater-readstoomuch.blogspot.com  here,

“Wow, that’s like playing a blue card ace in a red card deck!”

I love this young lady’s mind! She continually amazes me, one of her memorable lines from when she was four years old is,

“Muffin on the floor is like Cheetos in the teeth.”