256 Quotes by Henri Matisse

When I put a green, it is not grass. When I put a blue, it is not the sky.

Would not it be best to leave room to mystery?

The sign for which I forge an image has no value if it doesn't harmonize with other signs, which I must determine in the course of my invention and which are completely peculiar to it.

Much of the beauty that arises in art comes from the struggle an artist wages with his limited medium.

Truly, I'm not joking when I thank my lucky stars for the awful operation I had, since it has made me young again and philosophical which means that I don't want to fritter away the new lease on life I've been given.

Do remember that one line does nothing; it is only in relation to another that it creates a volume.

Did not the artists of the great age of Japanese art change names many times during their careers? I like that; they wanted to safeguard their freedom.

A distinction is made between artists who work directly from nature and those who work purely from imagination. Neither if these methods should be preferred to the exclusion of the other. Often both are used in turn by the same man...

A colourist makes his presence known even in a simple charcoal drawing.