Henri Matisse Quotes

Cutting into color reminds me of the sculptor's direct carving.

- Henri Matisse

Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us.

- Henri Matisse

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

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

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

I do not literally paint that table, but the emotion it produces upon me.

- Henri Matisse

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

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

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

He who loves, flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him back.

- Henri Matisse

In love, the one who runs away is the winner.

- Henri Matisse

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

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

Instinct must be thwarted just as one prunes the branches of a tree so that it will grow better.

- Henri Matisse

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

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

I'm growing old, I delight in the past.

- Henri Matisse

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

- Henri Matisse

With color one obtains an energy that seems to stem from witchcraft.

- Henri Matisse

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

It has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everybody else.

- Henri Matisse

I wouldn't mind turning into a vermilion goldfish.

- Henri Matisse

I have been no more than a medium, as it were.

- Henri Matisse

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

Jazz is rhythm and meaning.

- Henri Matisse

Creativity takes courage.

- Henri Matisse

Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence.

- Henri Matisse

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

My curves are not crazy.

- Henri Matisse

There are always flowers for those who want to see them.

- Henri Matisse

Impressionism is the newspaper of the soul.

- Henri Matisse

Work cures everything.

- Henri Matisse

Exactitude is not truth.

- Henri Matisse