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)
My greatest satisfaction comes from the work itself.
The essential thing is to express oneself.
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, something like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.
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 have ever been painted.
A young painter who cannot liberate himself from the influence of the masters is not a painter.
My purpose is to render my emotion. This emotion is not in the least an imitation of nature. It is the result of the sensations I experience.
An artist must possess nature. He must identify himself with her slow and continuous transformations, which are in a sense the very rhythm of life.
I have always considered drawing not as an exercise of particular dexterity but above all as a means of expressing intimate feelings and moods.
One must always search. God only grants it to those who ask.
My drawing is not a model, it is an interpretation.
I believe that the artist's role is to express the truth, not to copy it.
A work of art must carry in itself its whole significance and impose it on the beholder even before he can identify the subject matter.
When I put a green, it is not grass. When I put a blue, it is not the sky.
There is no break between my earlier pictures and my present ones. They are based on the same principles.
I have always tried to be clear and to be understood.
The essential thing is to express. The rest is secondary.
I am not interested in copying nature. I am interested in expressing my feelings about nature.
My choice of colors is not based on any scientific theory; it is based on observation, on feeling, on the very nature of each experience.
I have never avoided the influence of others. I have always welcomed it.
The artist must look at things as he did when he was a child.
Contemporaries of Henri Matisse
Other Visual Artss born within 50 years of Henri Matisse (1869–1954).