I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things. Henri Matisse More Quotes by Henri Matisse More Quotes From 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 artistexpressionmean If it is practiced by a man of taste, the photograph will have the appearance of art (but) the photographer must...intervene as little as possible, so as not to lose the objective charm which it naturally possesses. Henri Matisse photographymenart I was very embarrassed when my canvases began to fetch high prices. I saw myself condemned to a future of nothing but Masterpieces. Henri Matisse fetchembarrassedsaws What I am after, above all, is expression. Henri Matisse expression I'm growing old, I delight in the past. Henri Matisse delightgrowingpast I wouldn't mind turning into a vermilion goldfish. Henri Matisse goldfishmindart Impressionism is the newspaper of the soul. Henri Matisse newspaperssoulart Jazz is rhythm and meaning. Henri Matisse jazzmusicinspirational Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence. Henri Matisse expressionfunnyart I am unable to make any distinction between the feeling I get from life and the way I translate that feeling into painting. Henri Matisse paintingfeelingsway What I dream of is an art of balance. Henri Matisse balancedreamart Drawing is . . . not an exercise of particular dexterity, but above all a means of expressing intimate feelings and moods. Henri Matisse drawingexercisemean I simply try to put down colors which render my sensation Henri Matisse complementary-colorscolortrying To draw is to make an idea precise. Drawing is the precision of thought. Henri Matisse precisiondrawingideas 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. Henri Matisse lightningartistspring What interests me most is neither still life nor landscape, but the human figure. Henri Matisse landscapefiguresart I don't paint women, I paint pictures. . . What I am after above all is expression. If in a portrait I put eyes, a nose, a mouth, there isn't much use; on the contrary it paralyses the imagination of the spectator, and obliges us to see the person in a certain way. Henri Matisse eyeimaginationexpression The importance of an artist is to be measured by the quantity of new signs which he has introduced to the language of art. Henri Matisse importancelanguageart The role of the artist, like that of the scholar, consists of seizing current truths often repeated to him, but which will take on new meaning for him and which he will make his own when he has grasped their deepest significance. Henri Matisse currentsrolesartist Starting to paint, I felt gloriously free, quiet, and alone. Henri Matisse startingpaintquiet
