Henri Matisse Quotes - Page 4

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

A painting in an interior spreads joy around it by the colors, which calm us.

Hatred is a parasite that devours all. One doesn't build upon hatred, but upon love.

I cannot copy nature in a servile way; I am forced to interpret nature and submit it to the spirit of the picture. From the relationship I have found in all the tones there must result a living harmony of colors, a harmony analogous to that of a musical composition.

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.

...for whether we want to or not, we belong to our time and we share in its opinions, its feelings, even its delusions.

I never retouch a sketch: I take a canvas the same size, as I may change the composition somewhat. But I always strive to give the same feeling, while carrying it on further.

When I eat a tomato I look at it the way anyone else would. But when I paint a tomato, then I see it differently.

I simply try to put down colors which render my sensation

The truly original artist invents his own signs.

The essential thing is to spring forth, to express the bolt of lightning one senses upon contact with a thing. The function of the artist is not to translate an observation but to express the shock of the object on his nature; the shock, with the original reaction.

Purer colors... have in themselves, independently of the objects they serve to express, a significant action on the feelings of those who look at them.

Drawing is . . . not an exercise of particular dexterity, but above all a means of expressing intimate feelings and moods.

It would be a mistake to ascribe this creative power to an inborn talent. In art, the genius creator is not just a gifted being, but a person who has succeeded in arranging for their appointed end, a complex of activities, of which the work is the outcome. The artist begins with a vision — a creative operation requiring an effort. Creativity takes courage.

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.

You want to paint? First of all you must cut off your tongue because your decision takes away from you the right to express yourself with anything but your brush.

Seek the strongest color effect possible... the content is of no importance.

Drawing is of the Spirit and color of the Senses.

All art worthy of the name is religious.

What's so astonishing about not understanding? There are so many things in art, beginning with art itself, that one doesn't understand. A painter doesn't see everything that he has put in his painting.

All my efforts go into creating an art that can be understood by everyone.

Truth and reality in art do not arise until you no longer understand what you are doing and are capable of but nevertheless sense a power that grows in proportion to your resistance.

All that is not useful in a picture is detrimental. A work of art must be harmonious in its entirety; for superfluous details would, in the mind of the beholder, encroach upon the essential elements.

Cezanne, you see, is a sort of God of painting.

My choice of colors does not rest on any scientific theory; it is based on observation, on feeling, on the experience of my sensibility. Inspired by certain pages of Delacroix, an artist like Signac is preoccupied with complementary colors, and the theoretical knowledge of them will lead him to use a certain tone in a certain place. But I simply try to put down colors which render my sensation.