256 Quotes by Henri Matisse

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.

The sign is determined at the moment I use it and for the object of which it must form a part. For this reason I cannot determine in advance signs which never change, and which would be like writing: that would paralyze the freedom of my invention.

Work cures everything.

Hatred is a parasite that devours all. One doesn't build upon hatred, but upon love.

Jazz is rhythm and meaning.

Love wants to rise, not to be held down by anything base... He who loves flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him back. Derive happiness from yourself, from a good day's work, from the clearing that it makes in the fog that surrounds us.

After a half-century of hard work and reflection the wall is still there.

Cezanne, you see, is a sort of God of painting.

My models, my human figures, are never like extras in an interior. They are the main theme of my work. I depend absolutely on my model...