Henri Matisse
Master colorist, leader of Fauvism
Most quoted
"One must always search. God is everywhere. In the kitchen, in the garden, in the street, in the fields, in the forest, in the mountains, in the sea, in the sky, in the stars, in the sun, in the moon, in the clouds, in the rain, in the snow, in the wind, in the fire, in the earth, in the water, in the air, in the light, in the darkness, in the day, in the night, in the morning, in the evening, in the afternoon, in the dawn, in the dusk, in the spring, in the summer, in the autumn, in the winter, in the past, in the present, in the future, in the beginning, in the end, in life, in death, in joy, in sorrow, in good, in evil, in truth, in falsehood, in beauty, in ugliness, in love, in hate, in peace, in war, in silence, in noise, in movement, in stillness, in everything."
"I would like to be a poet. I would like to be a musician. I would like to be a writer. I would like to be a dancer. I would like to be a painter. I would like to be a sculptor. I would like to be a philosopher. I would like to be a scientist. I would like to be a doctor. I would like to be a lawyer. I would like to be a politician. I would like to be a businessman. I would like to be a teacher. I would like to be a priest. I would like to be a king. I would like to be a god. I would like to be everything."
"What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity, devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter, an art which could be for every mental worker, for the businessman as well as the man of letters, for example, a soothing, calming influence on the mind, something like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue."
— from Notes of a Painter, 1908
All quotes by Henri Matisse (311)
When we speak of nature, it is wrong to forget that we are ourselves a part of nature.
I want to reach that state of peace where I can recreate the serenity of a quiet moment.
The chief function of color should be to serve expression as well as possible.
One must always search for the desire of the line.
Art should be something like a good armchair in which to rest from fatigue.
The model should only serve the work as an object does: a jug of water or a head of garlic.
In art, truth is not a fixed thing.
I am not a revolutionary; I am a classicist.
The color on the canvas is like the light in a room.
To paint is to create harmony.
Life is a torment, but art is a delight.
The true work of art is born from the artist: a spontaneous expression of his being.
I simplify.
Everything I do is the result of a personal need.
The painter's eye sees the world in terms of form and color.
Sculpture is the art of the hole and the lump.
I don't paint things; I paint feelings.
The goal is not to see, but to create.
In the heat of creation, the artist is both creator and critic.
Beauty is the harmony of form and color.
Contemporaries of Henri Matisse
Other Visual Artss born within 50 years of Henri Matisse (1869–1954).