Henri Matisse Quotes

Exactitude is not truth.

A work should contain its total meaning within itself and should impress it on the spectator before he even knows the subject.

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

From the moment I held the box of colors in my hands, I knew this was my life. I threw myself into it like a beast that plunges towards the thing it loves.

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 didn't expect to recover from my second operation but since I did, I consider that I'm living on borrowed time. Every day that dawns is a gift to me and I take it in that way. I accept it gratefully without looking beyond it. I completely forget my physical suffering and all the unpleasantness of my present condition and I think only of the joy of seeing the sun rise once more and of being able to work a little bit, even under difficult conditions.

To look at something as though we had never seen it before requires great courage.

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