Henri Matisse Quotes
Quotations and aphorisms by Henri Matisse:
With color one obtains an energy that seems to stem from witchcraft.
~Henri Matisse
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I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things.
~Henri Matisse
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He who loves, flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him back.
~Henri Matisse
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In love, the one who runs away is the winner.
~Henri Matisse
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My curves are not crazy.
~Henri Matisse
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It has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everybody else.
~Henri Matisse
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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
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Instinct must be thwarted just as one prunes the branches of a tree so that it will grow better.
~Henri Matisse
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Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us.
~Henri Matisse
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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
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Cutting into color reminds me of the sculptor's direct carving.
~Henri Matisse
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Impressionism is the newspaper of the soul.
~Henri Matisse
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I have been no more than a medium, as it were.
~Henri Matisse
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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
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There are always flowers for those who want to see them.
~Henri Matisse
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Work cures everything.
~Henri Matisse
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I wouldn't mind turning into a vermilion goldfish.
~Henri Matisse
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Jazz is rhythm and meaning.
~Henri Matisse
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I do not literally paint that table, but the emotion it produces upon me.
~Henri Matisse
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I'm growing old, I delight in the past.
~Henri Matisse
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Creativity takes courage.
~Henri Matisse
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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
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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
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Exactitude is not truth.
~Henri Matisse
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence.
~Henri Matisse
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