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| Drawing is putting a line (a)round an idea. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| Seek the strongest color effect possible...the content is of no importance. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| . . I have always sought to be understood and, while I was taken to task by critics or colleagues, I thought they were right, assuming I had not been clear enough to be understood. This assumption allowed me to work my whole life without hatred and even without bitterness toward criticism, regardless of its source. I counted solely on the clarity of expression of my work to gain my ends. 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. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| 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. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| Cezanne, you see, is a sort of God of painting. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| 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. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| With color one obtains an energy that seems to stem from witchcraft. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| It has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everybody else. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| Creativity takes courage. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| I am unable to make any distinction between the feeling I get from life and the way I translate that feeling into painting. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| I do not literally paint that table, but the emotion it produces upon me. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| A young painter who cannot liberate himself from the influence of past generations is digging his own grave. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| Truth and reality in art do not arise until you no longer understand what you are doing and are capable of but nevertheless sense a power that grows in proportion to your resistance. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| Cutting into color reminds me of the sculptor's direct carving. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| 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. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| 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. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| A rapid rendering of a landscape represents only one moment of its existence. I prefer, by insisting upon its essential character, to risk losing charm in order to gain greater stability. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| Impressionism is the newspaper of the soul. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| There are always flowers for those who want to see them. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| It is my dream to create an art which is filled with balance, purity and calmness, freed from a subject matter that is disconcerting or too attention-seeking. In my paintings, I wish to create a spiritual remedy, similar to a comfortable armchair which provides rest from physical expectation for the spiritually working, the businessman as well as the artist. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| There is no interruption between my older paintings and my cutouts. Just that with an increasing sense of the absolute, and more abstraction, I have achieved a form that is simplified to its essence, |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| The artist must summon all his energy, his sincerity, and the greatest modesty in order to shatter the old cliches that come so easily to hand while working, which can suffocate the little flower that does not come, ever, the way one expects. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| After a half-century of hard work and reflection the wall is still there. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| In art, truth and reality begin when one no longer understands what one is doing or what one knows, and when there remains an energy that is all the stronger for being constrained, controlled and compressed. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| 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. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| I have simply wished to assert the reasoned and independent feeling of my own individuality within a total knowledge of tradition. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| 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. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| I have always tried to hide my own efforts and wished my works to have the lightness and joyousness of a springtime which never lets anyone suspect the labours it cost. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| I have always sought to be understood and, while I was taken to task by critics or colleagues, I thought they were right, assuming I had not been clear enough to be understood. This assumption allowed me to work my whole life without hatred and even without bitterness toward criticism, regardless of its source. I counted solely on the clarity of expression of my work to gain my ends. 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. |
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| Henri Matisse |
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| The only valid thing in art is the one thing that cannot be explained, to explain away the mystery of a great painting would do irreplaceable harm, for whenever you explain or define something you substitute the explanation or the definition for the |
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| Henri Matisse |
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