Quotes from Henri Matisse

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.

To arrive is to be in prison.

I don't know whether I believe in God or not. I think, really, I'm some kind of a Buddhist. But the essential thing is to put oneself in a frame of mind which is close to that of prayer.

I am unable to distinguish between the feeling I have for life and my way of expressing it.

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

Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illumination the fog that surround

I am unable to make any distinction between the feeling I get from life and the way I translate that feeling into painting.

Whoever wishes to devote himself to painting should begin by cutting out his own tongue

Impressionism is the newspaper of the soul

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

The importance of an artist is to be measured by the quantity of new signs which he has introduced to the language of art.

It has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everybody else.

When you're out of willpower, you can call on stubbornness.

Si je crois en Dieu? Oui, quand je travaille. Quand je suis soumis et modeste, je me sens tellement aidé par quelqu'un qui me fait faire des choses qui me surpassent.

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.

The essential thing is to spring forth, to express the bolt of lightning one senses upon contact with a thing. The function of the artist is not to translate an observation but to express the shock of the object on his nature; the shock, with the original reaction.

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

Instinct must be thwarted just as one prunes the branches of a tree so that it will grow better.

Siempre hay flores para aquellos que desean verlas.

A thimbleful of red is redder than a bucketful.

I am made of all that I have seen.

El artista comienza con una visión, una operación creativa que requiere un esfuerzo. La creatividad requiere coraje.

This is why journeys are useful, they enlarge the space that is around us.

Creativity takes courage