Henri Matisse – 14 Quotes

14 Quotes by Henri Matisse

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

– Henri Matisse

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

– 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

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

Creativity takes courage.

– 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

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

– Henri Matisse

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

– 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

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

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

– 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

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

Exactitude is not truth.

– Henri Matisse