Henri Matisse Quotes

Derive happiness in oneself from a good day’s work, from illumination the fog that surround

Whoever wishes to devote himself to painting should begin by cutting out his own tongue

El artista comienza con una visión, una operación creativa que requiere un esfuerzo. La creatividad requiere coraje.

"An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of reputation, prisoner of success, etc." -Henri Matisse, artist (31 Dec 1869-1954)

Do I believe in God? Yes, when I am working. When I am submissive and modest, I feel myself to be greatly helped by someone who causes me to do things that exceed my capabilities. However, I cannot acknowledge him because it is as if I were to find myself before a conjuror whose sleight of hand eludes me.

Composition, the aim of which is expression, alters itself according to the surface to be covered. If I take a sheet of paper of given dimensions I will jot down a drawing which will have a necessary relation to its format – I would not repeat this drawing on another sheet of different dimensions, for instance on a rectangular sheet.. ..a drawing must have a power of expansion which can bring to life the space which surrounds it.

I don't paint things. I only paint the differences between things.

You must forget all your theories, all your ideas before the subject. What part of these is really your own will be expressed in your expression of the emotion awakened in you by the subject.

Rules have no existence outside of individuals: otherwise a good professor would be as great a genius as Racine.

This is why journeys are useful, they enlarge the space that is around us.

Drawing with scissors: To cut to the quick in color reminds me of the direct cutting of sculptors.

Nothing can be accomplished without love.

A little while ago I took a nap under an olive tree, and the color harmonies I saw were so touching. It's like a paradise you have no right to analyze, but you are a painter, for God's sake! Nice is so beautiful! Alight so soft and tender, despite its brilliance.

From the moment I held the box of colors in my hands, I knew this was my life. I threw myself into it like a beast that plunges towards the thing it loves.

I don't know whether I believe in God or not. I think, really, I'm some kind of a Buddhist. But the essential thing is to put oneself in a frame of mind which is close to that of prayer.