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Quotes from Notes d'un Peintre (Notes of a Painter) — Henri Matisse

1869–1954 France

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3 quotes

In a picture every part will be visible and will play the role conferred upon it, be it principal or secondary. All that is not useful in the picture is detrimental.

Notes d'un Peintre (Notes of a Painter) (1908)

A work of art must carry in itself its complete significance and impose it upon the beholder even before he can identify the subject-matter. When I see the Giotto frescoes at Padua I do not trouble to recognize which scene of the life of Christ I have before me, but I perceive instantly the sentiment which radiates from it and which is instinct in the composition in every line and color.

Notes d'un Peintre (Notes of a Painter) (1908)

I want to reach the state of condensation of sensations which constitutes a picture. Perhaps I might be satisfied momentarily with a work finished at one sitting, but I would soon get bored looking at it; therefore, I prefer to continue working on it so that later I may recognize it as a work of my mind..

Notes d'un Peintre (Notes of a Painter) (1908)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Henri Matisse (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.