My models, my human figures, are never like extras in an interior. They are the main theme of my work. I depend absolutely on my model. Henri Matisse More Quotes by Henri Matisse More Quotes From Henri Matisse The portrait is one of the most curious art forms. It demands special qualities in the artist, and an almost total kinship with the model. Henri Matisse quality special art Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us. Henri Matisse work happiness inspirational Exactitude is not truth. Henri Matisse exactitude 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 were ever painted. Henri Matisse flower rose art It is with color that you render light, though you must also feel this light, have it within yourself. Henri Matisse color light feels Art should be something like a good armchair in which to rest from physical fatigue. Henri Matisse armchairs should art 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. Henri Matisse musical color way With color one obtains an energy that seems to stem from witchcraft. Henri Matisse color energy art 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 mastery effort artist Truth and reality in art begin at the point where the artist ceases to understand what he is doing and capable of doing - yet feels in himself a force that becomes steadily stronger... and more concentrated. Henri Matisse stronger reality art A thimbleful of red is redder than a bucketful. Henri Matisse red design color One must, of course, have one's entire experience behind one and not have lost the freshness of instinct. Henri Matisse instinct behinds lost 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 etc style art With greater completeness and abstraction, I have attained a form filtered to its essentials. Henri Matisse simplicity essentials form He who loves, flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him back. Henri Matisse freedom running love 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. Henri Matisse creativity mistake art To arrive is to be in prison. Henri Matisse prison The artist has to look at life as he did when he was a child. If he loses that faculty, he cannot express himself in an original, that is, a personal way. Henri Matisse artist children looks Above all, an artist must never be too easily satisfied with what he has done. Henri Matisse done artist satisfaction There are flowers everywhere, for those who bother to look. Henri Matisse positive-thinking flower beauty
