Book

Matisse on Art

This anthology contains the major writings of Henri Matisse, along with the transcripts of important interviews and broadcasts given at various stages of Matisse's career. There is also an introduction which addresses the development of Matisse's aestheti

(8 total)

Characters

Henri Matisse (8)

“At each stage I reach a balance, a conclusion. At the next sitting, if I find that there is a weakness in the whole, I make my way back into the picture by means of the weakness — I re-enter through the breach — and I reconceive the whole. Thus everything becomes fluid again.”

— Henri Matisse, amazon.com

Tagged: Conclusion, Stages of Art, Weakness, Pondering

“What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity, devoid of troubling or disturbing subject matter, an art which could be for every mental worker, for the businessman was well as the man of letters, for example, a soothing, calming influence on the mind, something like a good armchair wh…”

— Henri Matisse, amazon.com

Tagged: Art, Balance, Purity, Serenity

“I simply put down colours which render my sensation.”

— Henri Matisse, amazon.com

Tagged: Color, senses, Art, expression

“For me all is in the conception. I must therefore have a clear vision of the whole from the beginning.”

— Henri Matisse, amazon.com

Tagged: Conception, Art, Vision, Clarity

“Suppose I want to paint a woman's body: first of all I imbue it with grace and charm, but I know that I must give something more. I will condense the meaning of this body by seeking its essential lines. The charm will be less apparent at first glance, but it must eventually emerge from the new image…”

— Henri Matisse, amazon.com

Tagged: Painting, Woman, Body, charm, Meaning

“Expression for me does not reside in passions glowing in a human face or manifested by violent movement. The entire arrangement of my picture is expressive; the place occupied by my figures, the empty space around them, the proportions, everything has its share. Composition is the art of arranging i…”

— Henri Matisse, amazon.com

Tagged: expression, Passion, Composition

“The simplest means are those which best enable an artist to express himself. His means of expression must derive almost all of necessity from his temperament.”

— Henri Matisse, amazon.com

Tagged: Simplicity, Means, expression, Artist

“Exaggerate in the direction of truth.”

— Henri Matisse, amazon.com

Tagged: Truth, Art, exaggeration, distortion