Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri-Émile-Benoît Matissewas a French artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionPainter
Date of Birth31 December 1869
CountryFrance
dream art balance
I dream of an art of balance, of quietness, something analogous to a good armchair.
peculiar harmony invention
The sign for which I forge an image has no value if it doesn't harmonize with other signs, which I must determine in the course of my invention and which are completely peculiar to it.
stars philosophical mean
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.
space canvas colour
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.
mean exercise drawing
Drawing is . . . not an exercise of particular dexterity, but above all a means of expressing intimate feelings and moods.
artist creative effort
The artist begins with a vision - a creative operation requiring an effort.
artist hatred soul
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.
artistic should impress
A work should contain its total meaning within itself and should impress it on the spectator before he even knows the subject.
bored mind may
Perhaps I might be satisfied, momentarily, with a work finished at one sitting, but I would soon get bored looking at it; therefore, I prefer to continue working on it so that later I may recognize it as a work of my mind.
color drawing spirit
Drawing is of the spirit; color is of the senses.
character artist expression
An artist who wants to transpose a composition onto a larger canvas must conceive it over again in order to preserve its expression; he must alter its character and not just fill in the squares into which he has divided his canvas.
quiet paint starting
Starting to paint, I felt gloriously free, quiet, and alone.
freedom bored everyday
When I started to paint I felt transported into a kind of paradise... In everyday life I was usually bored and vexed... Starting to paint I felt gloriously free...
drawing tree copying
I shan't get free of my emotion by copying the tree faithfully, or by drawing its leaves one by one in the common language, but only after identifying myself with it.