Reviews

This month’s Review

A Painter’s Note by Henri Matisse

Words of Wisdom on Composition

Expression is what I seek above all else.

…To me, expression is not in the passion which flashes across a face or reveals itself in a violent movement. it is in the whole arrangement of my painting: the area occupied by the figure, the empty spaces around them, proportions—everything plays its part.

…The composition, which must aim at expression, varies with the surface to be covered. If I take a sheet of paper of a certain size, there will be a necessary relationship between my drawing and its format.

…Once, I wouldn’t have my paintings on the wall, because they reminded me of moments when I was excited and I didn’t like to see them again when I was calm. Now, I try to imbue my paintings with calm and I go over them until I have succeeded.

…Charm, lightness, freshness are all fleeting sensations. I start reworking a painting I’ve done in fresh tints. The tones will inevitably, become duller. My original tone will be replaced by one whose density will be more suitable, although less appealing to the eye.

…A quick interpretation of a landscape captures only one moment of its existences. By insisting on the character of a landscape, I prefer to risk losing its charm for the sake of obtaining greater stability.

…My dream is an art balanced which is balanced, pure, tranquil, with no disturbing or troublesome subjects, an art for all those who engage in intellectual activity, the businessman as well as the scholar for example, something soothing, a calmative for the mind the mind, something like the comfortable armchair which offers repose when one is physically tired.

…The simplest methods are those which best allow the painter to express himself. If he is afraid of the banal, it is not by strange exteriors, outlandish drawing and eccentric colors that he will avoid it.

by Henri Matisse
Excerpt from Homage to Henri Matisse

From the book: Homage to Henri Matisse
Published by Tudor Publishing Co, New York

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