256 Quotes by Henri Matisse

The essential thing is to work in a state of mind that approaches prayer.

...I am driven on by an idea that I really only grasp as it grows with the picture.

Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence.

Creative people are curious, flexible, and independent with a tremendous spirit and a love of play.

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.

An artist who wants to transpose a composition onto a larger canvas must conceive it over again in order to preserve its expression; he must alter its character and not just fill in the squares into which he has divided his canvas.

Don't try to be original. Be simple. Be good technically, and if there is something in you, it will come out.

There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted.

If my story were ever to be written truthfully from start to finish, it would amaze everyone.