Don't wait for inspiration. It comes while one is working. Henri Matisse More Quotes by Henri Matisse More Quotes From Henri Matisse Instinct must be thwarted just as one prunes the branches of a tree so that it will grow better. Henri Matisse natural-instinctintuitiontree The splitting up of color [as Impressionists did] brought the splitting up of form and contour . . . Everything is reduced to a mere sensation of the retina, but one which destroys all tranquility of surface and contour. Objects are differentiated only by the luminosity that is given them. Henri Matisse splitting-uptranquilitycolor I have always sought to be understood and, while I was taken to task by critics or colleagues, I thought they were right, assuming I had not been clear enough to be understood. This assumption allowed me to work my whole life without hatred and even without bitterness toward criticism, regardless of its source. I counted solely on the clarity of expression of my work to gain my ends. Hatred, rancor, and the spirit of vengeance are useless baggage to the artist. His road is difficult enough for him to cleanse his soul of everything which could make it more so. Henri Matisse takenexpressionart Truly, I'm not joking when I thank my lucky stars for the awful operation I had, since it has made me young again and philosophical which means that I don't want to fritter away the new lease on life I've been given. Henri Matisse philosophicalstarsmean I am unable to distinguish between the feeling I have for life and my way of expressing it. Henri Matisse my-wayfeelingsway It is through the human figure that I best succeed in expressing the nearly religious feeling that I have towards life. Henri Matisse religioushumanityfeelings The sign is determined at the moment I use it and for the object of which it must form a part. For this reason I cannot determine in advance signs which never change, and which would be like writing: that would paralyze the freedom of my invention. Henri Matisse usewould-bewriting Love wants to rise, not to be held down by anything base... He who loves flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him back. Derive happiness from yourself, from a good day's work, from the clearing that it makes in the fog that surrounds us. Henri Matisse foggood-dayrunning Each work of art is a collection of signs invented during the picture's execution to suit the needs of their position. Taken out of the composition for which they were created, these signs have no further use. Henri Matisse suitstakenart ...The more a picture has to give, the greater it is. Henri Matisse greatergivingart Precision is not reality Henri Matisse precisionreality The residuum of another's expression can never be related to one's own feeling. Henri Matisse imitationexpressionfeelings The living model, the naked body of a woman, is the privileged seat of feeling, but also of questioning... The model must mark you, awaken in you an emotion which you seek in turn to express. Henri Matisse nakedfeelingsbeauty A certain blue enters your soul Henri Matisse certainsoulblue A new painting is a unique event, a birth, which enriches the universe as it is grasped by the human mind, by bringing a new form into it. Henri Matisse eventsuniquemind ...I am driven on by an idea that I really only grasp as it grows with the picture. Henri Matisse drivenideasart Creation is the artist's true function; where there is no creation there is no art. Henri Matisse creationartistart 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 aristocracygivingart The use of expressive colors is felt to be one of the basic elements of the modern mentality, an historical necessity, beyond choice. Henri Matisse rainbowcolorchoices A work should contain its total meaning within itself and should impress it on the spectator before he even knows the subject. Henri Matisse impressartisticshould
