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
Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence.
– Henri Matisse
I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things.
– Henri Matisse
I have always tried to hide my efforts and wished my works to have the light joyousness of springtime which never lets anyone suspect the labors it has cost me.
– Henri Matisse
I have been no more than a medium, as it were.
– Henri Matisse
I wouldn't mind turning into a vermilion goldfish.
– Henri Matisse
Impressionism is the newspaper of the soul.
– Henri Matisse
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
There are always flowers for those who want to see them.
– 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
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
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
In the beginning you must subject yourself to the influence of nature. You must be able to walk firmly on the ground before you start walking on a tightrope.
– Henri Matisse
He who loves, flies, runs, and rejoices he is free and nothing holds him back.
– Henri Matisse
Exactitude is not truth.
– Henri Matisse
Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us.
– Henri Matisse
Creativity takes courage.
– 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.