I've been forty years discovering that the queen of all colors is black.
Henri MatisseRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a desire for art that brings balance and tranquility, free from negativity.
Henri Matisse's quote reflects his aspiration for an art form that embodies harmony and serenity, aiming to provide viewers with a sense of relaxation and comfort. He compares this ideal art to a good armchair, suggesting that just as such a chair offers physical reprieve, art should similarly soothe the mind and uplift the spirit without causing any distress or discomfort.
Themes
ArtBalanceSerenityCalmBeauty
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared at an art exhibition to convey the intention behind the displayed works.
More from Henri Matisse
All quotes →Whoever wishes to devote himself to painting should begin by cutting out his own tongue
Henri MatisseRead
Purer colors... have in themselves, independently of the objects they serve to express, a significant action on the feelings of those who look at them.
Henri MatisseRead
It is not enough to place colors, however beautiful, one beside the other; colors must also react on one another. Otherwise, you have cacophony.
Henri MatisseRead
Color, even more than drawing, is a means of liberation.
Henri MatisseRead
Don't try to be original. Be simple. Be good technically, and if there is something in you, it will come out.
Henri MatisseRead
Similar quotes
It's a cliche, but true, that writing is intensely solitary and at times really lonely. I sit in one room and talk to squirrels and blue jays all day.
Douglas CouplandRead
The good critic is he who relates the adventures of his soul among masterpieces.
Anatole FranceRead
I can write with authority only about what I know well, which means that I end up using surface details of my own life in my fiction.
Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieRead
Then I played the song that hides in the center of me. That wordless music that moves through the secret places in my heart. I played it carefully, strumming it slow and low into the dark stillness of the night. I would like to say it is a happy song, that it is sweet and bright, but it is not.
Patrick RothfussRead
I like poems that are daggers that sing. I like poems that for all the power of the sentiments expressed, and all the power to upset and offend, are so well made that they’re achieved things. However much they upset you, they also affect you.
Frederick SeidelRead
Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree.
Ezra PoundRead