Robert Henri
June 25, 1865- July 12, 1929
Robert Henri was an American painter and teacher. He was a leading figure of the Ashcan School in art. Robert Henri was born Robert Henry Cozad in Cincinnati, Ohio to Theresa Gatewood Cozad of Malden, Virginia and John Jackson Cozad, a gambler and real estate developer. Henri had a brother, Johnny, and was a distant cousin of the noted American painter Mary Cassatt. In 1871, Henri's father founded the town of Cozaddale, Ohio. In 1873, the... family moved west to Nebraska, where they founded the town of Cozad. In October 1882, Henri's father became embroiled in a dispute with a rancher, Alfred Pearson, over the right to pasture cattle on land claimed by the family. When the dispute turned physical, Cozad shot Pearson fatally with a pistol. Cozad was eventually cleared of wrongdoing, but the mood of the town turned against him. He fled to Denver, Colorado, and the rest of the family followed shortly afterwards. In order to disassociate themselves from the scandal, family members changed their names.
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