Henri Matisse Quotes

Put a colour upon a canvas - it not only colours with that colour the part of the canvas to which the colour has been applied, but it also colours the surrounding space with the complementary.

A colourist makes his presence known even in a simple charcoal drawing.

The importance of an artist is to be measured by the quantity of new signs which he has introduced to the language of art.

...I am driven on by an idea that I really only grasp as it grows with the picture.

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

For my part I have never avoided the influence of others. I would have considered it cowardice and a lack of sincerity toward myself.

A work of art must carry in itself its complete significance and impose it upon the beholder even before he can identify the subject-matter.

Creation is the artist's true function; where there is no creation there is no art.

If my story were ever to be written truthfully from start to finish, it would amaze everyone.

The Barnes Foundation is the only sane place to see art in America.

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.

I don't know whether I believe in God or not. I think, really, I'm some kind of a Buddhist. But the essential thing is to put oneself in a frame of mind which is close to that of prayer.

Creativity takes courage.

Don't wait for inspiration. It comes while working.

I do not distinguish between the construction of a book and that of a painting and I always proceed from the simple to the complex." - 1946

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.