"Henri the Painter..."

Henri the painter was not French, and his name was not Henri. Also he was not really a painter. Henri had so steeped himself in stories of the Left Bank in Paris that he lived there, although he'd never been there. Feverishly, he followed in periodicals the Dadaist movements and schisms, the strangely feminine jealousies and religiousness, the obscurantism of forming and breaking schools. Regularly he revolted against outworn techniques and materials. One season, he threw out perspective. Another year, he abandoned Red, even as the mother of Purple. Finally he gave up paint entirely. It's not known whether Henri was a good painter or not, for he threw himself so violently into movements that he had very little time left for painting of any kind.

— John Steinbeck, Cannery Row, 1945

quoted by Brooks Jensen in the podcast LensWork HT0140, July 18, 2019