An artist must possess Nature. He must identify himself with her rhythm, by efforts that will prepare the mastery which will later enable him to express himself in his own language.
— Henri Matisse
In the beginning you must subject yourself to the influence of nature. You must be able to walk firmly on the ground before you start walking on a tightrope.
I would like to recapture that freshness of vision which is characteristic of extreme youth when all the world is new to it.
I do not literally paint that table, but the emotion it produces upon me.
Cutting into color reminds me of the sculptor's direct carving.
I'm growing old, I delight in the past.
Work cures everything.
What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.
Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence.
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.
I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things.
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.
I have always tried to hide my efforts and wished my works to have a light joyousness of springtime which never lets anyone suspect the labors it has cost me.
A young woman has young claws, well sharpened. If she has character, that is. And if she hasn't so much the worse for you.
It has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everybody else.
Creativity takes courage.
Jazz is rhythm and meaning.
In love, the one who runs away is the winner.
I have been no more than a medium, as it were.
I wouldn't mind turning into a vermilion goldfish.
You study, you learn, but you guard the original naivete. It has to be within you, as desire for drink is within the drunkard or love is within the lover.
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.
I don't know whether I believe in God or not. I think, really, I'm some sort of Buddhist. But the essential thing is to put oneself in a frame of mind which is close to that of prayer.
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.
Instinct must be thwarted just as one prunes the branches of a tree so that it will grow better.
With color one obtains an energy that seems to stem from witchcraft.
Exactitude is not truth.
My curves are not crazy.
Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us.
It is only after years of preparation that the young artist should touch color - not color used descriptively, that is, but as a means of personal expression.
Impressionism is the newspaper of the soul.
There are always flowers for those who want to see them.
He who loves, flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him back.
