American painter. Henri was born in Cincinnati and studied in Philadelphia. From 1888 to 1891 he received an academic training in Paris where he was untouched by IMPRESSIONISM but admired HALS and MANET, primarily for their lively and economic brush strokes which he later adopted. In 1891 he returned to Philadelphia and became the focus of a group of newspaper illustrators, GLACKENS, SLOAN, LUKS, and Everett Shinn (1876–1953), whom he enthused with the idea of a popular American art devoted to everyday subjects. In 1898, in Europe, he was impressed by GOYA, whose influence is seen in his portrait The Masquerade Dress (1911; New York, Met. Mus.). By 1904 the Philadelphia group was reunited in New York, painting urban scenes in a free, unpolished manner. Serving on the jury of the National Academy in 1907, Henri was incensed by the exclusion of his friends and resigned, organizing an independent exhibition, The EIGHT, in 1908. Whereas The Eight exhibition had only a qualified success, his second independent show, in 1910, proved hugely popular. Henri's importance lies less in his paintings than in his leading role in establishing a popular democratic American art. (SOURCE: Oxford Art Online, http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t118/e1184?q=robert+henri&search=quick&pos=2&_start=1#firsthit, October 20, 2016)
