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
Instinct must be thwarted just as one prunes the branches of a tree so that it will grow better. – Henri Matisse
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
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
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
What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter – a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue. – Henri Matisse
A picture must possess a real power to generate light and for a long time now I’ve been conscious of expressing myself through light or rather in light. – Henri Matisse
Derive happiness in oneself from a good day’s work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us. – Henri Matisse
You study, you learn, but you guard the original naivete. It has to be within you, as desire for drink is within the drunkard or love is within the lover. – Henri Matisse
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
