"Robert Henri's open letter to the Art Students League:"

“The Masses marked, I have been told, the first appearance of "realism" in an American magazine. But I was ignorant of, and indifferent to, schools of art and literature. Of the new movement in art represented by John Sloan, George Bellows, and the other pupils of Robert Henri, I had never heard.”

“"There is only one reason for art in America, and that is that the people of America learn the means of expressing themselves in their own time, and their own land."”

“"Different men are moved or left cold by lines according to the difference in their natures. What moves you is beautiful to you."”

“"Paint what you feel. Paint what you see. Paint what is real to you."Henri, Robert (2007) [1923], p. 285.”

“"Art cannot be separated from life. It is the expression of the greatest need of which life is capable, and we value art not because of the skilled product, but because of its revelation of a life's experience.".”

“"It is harder to see than it is to express. The whole value of art rests in the artist's ability to see well into what is before him."”