Henri Matisse Quotes, Sayings, Remarks, Thoughts and Speeches
Henri Matisse Quotes and Sayings
- 1
A picture must possess a real power to generate light and for a long time now I've been conscious of expressing myself through light or rather in light.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 2
A young woman has young claws, well sharpened. If she has character, that is. And if she hasn't so much the worse for you.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 3
An artist must never be a prisoner. Prisoner? An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of reputation, prisoner of success, etc.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 4
An artist must possess Nature. He must identify himself with her rhythm, by efforts that will prepare the mastery which will later enable him to express himself in his own language.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 5
Creativity takes courage.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 6
Cutting into color reminds me of the sculptor's direct carving.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 7
Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 8
Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 9
Exactitude is not truth.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 10
He who loves, flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him back.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 11
I do not literally paint that table, but the emotion it produces upon me.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 12
I don't know whether I believe in God or not. I think, really, I'm some sort of Buddhist. But the essential thing is to put oneself in a frame of mind which is close to that of prayer.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 13
I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 14
I have always tried to hide my efforts and wished my works to have a light joyousness of springtime which never lets anyone suspect the labors it has cost me.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 15
I have been no more than a medium, as it were.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 16
I would like to recapture that freshness of vision which is characteristic of extreme youth when all the world is new to it.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 17
I wouldn't mind turning into a vermilion goldfish.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 18
I'm growing old, I delight in the past.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 19
Impressionism is the newspaper of the soul.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 20
In love, the one who runs away is the winner.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 21
In the beginning you must subject yourself to the influence of nature. You must be able to walk firmly on the ground before you start walking on a tightrope.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 22
Instinct must be thwarted just as one prunes the branches of a tree so that it will grow better.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 23
It has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everybody else.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 24
It is only after years of preparation that the young artist should touch color - not color used descriptively, that is, but as a means of personal expression.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 25
Jazz is rhythm and meaning.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 26
My curves are not crazy.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 27
There are always flowers for those who want to see them.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 28
There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 29
Time extracts various values from a painter's work. When these values are exhausted the pictures are forgotten, and the more a picture has to give, the greater it is.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 30
What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 31
With color one obtains an energy that seems to stem from witchcraft.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 32
Work cures everything.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
- 33
You study, you learn, but you guard the original naivete. It has to be within you, as desire for drink is within the drunkard or love is within the lover.
Henri Matisse | Refcard PDF ↑
