Frasi di Henri Matisse (71 frasi, pagina 2)

Henri Matisse: 71 citazioni15 Mi piace

Henri Matisse frasi celebri

“Vedere è già di per sé un atto creativo.”

Henri Matisse

Occorre guardare tutta la vita con gli occhi di un bambino

“L'arte imita la natura; per questo carattere di vita che un lavoro creativo conferisce all'opera d'arte.”

Henri Matisse

Occorre guardare tutta la vita con gli occhi di un bambino

“L'esattezza non è la verità, diceva Delacroix.”

Henri Matisse

“Occorre un grande amore, capace di ispirare e sostenere questo sforzo continuo verso la verità, questa generosità assoluta e questo profondo spogliamento che implica la genesi di ogni opera d'arte. Ma l'amore non è forse all'origine di tutta la creazione?”

Henri Matisse

Occorre guardare tutta la vita con gli occhi di un bambino

“Chiunque si dedichi alla pittura dovrebbe iniziare tagliandosi la lingua. ”

Henri Matisse

“Penso che nulla sia più difficile per un vero pittore che dipingere una rosa, perché per dipingerla deve dimenticare tutte le rose che ha dipinto prima.”

Henri Matisse

Occorre guardare tutta la vita con gli occhi di un bambino

Henri Matisse Frasi e Citazioni

“Quello che conta nella vetrata è il colore proiettato. L'importante non è la vetrata in sé, ma la luce generata all'interno della cappella. Mi sono dedicato troppo alla realizzazione della vetrata e non ho prestato sufficiente attenzione a ciò che da essa promana.”

Henri Matisse

Origine: Citato in Régine Pernoud, Testimoni della luce, pensieri raccolti e presentati da Laetitia de Traversay, prefazione di Blandine de Dinechin, edizione italiana a cura e con postfazione di Marco Respinti, Gribaudi, Milano, 1998.

“Creare è proprio dell'artista; dove non c'è creazione, l'arte non esiste.”

Henri Matisse

Occorre guardare tutta la vita con gli occhi di un bambino

“Nel campo dell'arte, il creatore autentico non è solo un essere particolarmente dotato, è un uomo che ha saputo ordinare in vista del loro fine un insieme di attività, delle quali l'opera d'arte è il risultato finale.”

Henri Matisse

Occorre guardare tutta la vita con gli occhi di un bambino

“Occorre sapere ancora conservare quella freschezza infantile a contatto con gli oggetti, salvare questa ingenuità.”

Henri Matisse

Occorre guardare tutta la vita con gli occhi di un bambino

“Nella cappella di Vence, che rappresenta il compimento delle mie ricerche precedenti, ho tentato di realizzare questo equilibrio di forze; i blu, i verdi, i gialli delle vetrate creano all'interno una luce che non è, propriamente parlando, alcuno dei colori impiegati, ma il prodotto vivo della loro armonia, del rapporto fra essi.”

Henri Matisse

Occorre guardare tutta la vita con gli occhi di un bambino

Henri Matisse: Frasi in inglese

“An artist must possess Nature. He must identify himself with her rhythms, by effort that will prepare the mastery which will later enable him to express himself in his own language.”

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Henri Matisse

In a letter to Mr. Clifford, February 14, 1948; as quoted in Letters of the great artists – from Ghiberti to Gainsborough, Richard Friedenthal, Thames and Hudson , London, 1963, p. 238
1940s

“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.”

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Henri Matisse

As quoted by Theodore F. Wolff in The Christian Science Monitor (25 March 1985)
Posthumous quotes

“[I wouldn't mind turning into] a vermilion goldfish.”

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Henri Matisse

At age 80, as quoted in Matisse (1984) by Pierre Schneider
Posthumous quotes

“The future painter must feel what is useful for his development – drawing or even sculpture everything that will let him become one with Nature, identify himself with her, by entering into the things – which is what I call Nature – that arouse his feelings. I believe study by means of drawing is most essential. If drawing is of the Spirit and color of the Senses, you must draw first, to cultivate the spirit and to be able to lead color into spiritual paths.”

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Henri Matisse

In a letter to Mr. Clifford, February 14, 1948; as quoted in Letters of the great artists – from Ghiberti to Gainsborough, Richard Friedenthal, Thames and Hudson, London, 1963, pp. 238-239
1940s

“The work of Renoir, after that of Cézanne whose great influence had been manifested among artists, save us from whatever drying effect there is in pure abstraction. The rules that one might deduce in considering the work of these two masters appear to be more difficult to discover in the work of Renoir, who hides his efforts better. Whereas the continuous tension of the mind of Cézanne, his lack of self-confidence, prevent him from giving himself to us entirely even though he shows the evidence of his corrections, from which are easily (too easily) deduced rules that have a mathematical precision.”

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Henri Matisse

critical quote on Cubism
In a short text of Matisse, 1918, written for the catalogue of 'Den Franske Utstilling', 1918, Copenhagen; as quoted in Matisse on Art, Jack Flam, University of California Press 1995 p. 272, note 2
1910 - 1920

“If upon a white canvas I jot down some sensations of blue, of green, of red – every new brush stroke diminishes the importance of the preceding ones. Suppose I set out to paint an interior... If I paint a green near the red, if I paint in a yellow floor, there must still be between this green, this yellow, and the white of the canvas a relation that will be satisfactory to me. But these several tones mutually weaken one another. It is necessary, therefore, that the various elements that I use be so balanced that they do not destroy one another..”

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Henri Matisse

Origine: 1905 - 1910, Notes d'un Peintre' (Notes of a Painter) (1908), p. 411

“I will repeat what I once said to Guillaume Apollinaire: "For my part I have never avoided the influence of others. I would have considered it cowardice and a lack of sincerity toward myself."”

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Henri Matisse

original version in French: Je vous répéterai ce que je disais naguère à Guillaume Apollinaire: "Je n'ai, pour ma part, jamais évité l'influence des autres, j'aurais considéré cela comme une lâcheté et un manque de sincérité vis-à-vis de moi-même."
'Interview with Henri Matisse' by Jacques Guenne, in 'L'Art Vivant' (15 September 1925)
1920s

“Delacroix's composition is more entirely created, while that of Seurat employs matter organized scientifically, reproducing, presenting t our eyes objects constructed by scientific means rather than by signs, coming from our feeling. As result there is in his works a positivism, a slightly inert stability, coming from his composition, which is not the result of a creation of the mind, but of a juxtaposition of the objects. It is necessary to cross this barrier to re-feel light, colored and soft, and pure, the noblest pleasure”

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Henri Matisse

In a letter to Camoin, Autumn 1914; as quoted in Matisse on Art, Jack Flam, University of California Press 1995 p. 275, note 5
1910s

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

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Henri Matisse

1905 - 1910, Notes of a Painter' (1908)

“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 in a decorative manner the diverse elements at the painter's command to express his feelings. In a picture every part will be visible and will play its appointed role, whether it be principal or secondary. Everything that is not useful in the picture is, it follows, harmful. A work of art must be harmonious in its entirety: any superfluous detail would replace some other essential detail in the mind of the spectator.”

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Henri Matisse

1905 - 1910, Notes of a Painter' (1908)

“Do I believe in God? Yes, when I am working. When I am submissive and modest, I feel myself to be greatly helped by someone who causes me to do things that exceed my capabilities. However, I cannot acknowledge him because it is as if I were to find myself before a conjuror whose sleight of hand eludes me.”

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Henri Matisse

Si je crois en Dieu? Oui, quand je travaille. Quand je suis soumis et modeste, je me sens tellement aidé par quelqu'un qui me fait faire des choses qui me surpassent. Pourtant je ne me sens envers lui aucune reconnaissance car c'est comme si je me trouvais devant un prestidigitateur dont je ne puis percer les tours.
1940s, Jazz (1947)

“My choice of colors does not rest on any scientific theory; it is based on observation, on feeling, on the very nature of each experience. I.... merely try to find a color that will fit my sensation. There is an impelling proportion of tones that can induce me to change the shape of a figure or to transform my composition. Until I have achieved this proportion in all the parts of the composition I strive towards it and keep on working. Then a moment comes when every part has found its definite relationship, and from then on it would be impossible for me to add a stroke to my picture without having to paint it all over again.”

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Henri Matisse

Origine: 1905 - 1910, Notes d'un Peintre' (Notes of a Painter) (1908), p. 412

“What I am after, above all, is expression. Sometimes it has been conceded that I have a certain technical ability but that, my ambition being limited, I am unable to proceed beyond a purely visual satisfaction such as can be procured from the mere sight of a picture. But the purpose of a painter must not be conceived as separate from his pictorial means, and these pictorial means must be the more complete (I do not mean complicated) the deeper is his thought. I am unable to distinguish between the feeling I have for life and my way of expressing it.”

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Henri Matisse

Origine: 1900s, Notes d'un Peintre (Notes of a Painter) (1908), pp. 409-410

“Expression, to my way of thinking, does not consist of the passion mirrored upon a human face or betrayed by a violent gesture. The whole arrangement of my picture is expressive. The place occupied by figures or objects, the empty spaces around them, the proportions – everything plays a part. Composition is the art of arranging in a decorative manner the various elements at the painter’s disposal for the expression of his feelings”

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Henri Matisse

Origine: 1900s, Notes d'un Peintre (Notes of a Painter) (1908), p. 410

“"I do not literally paint that table, but the emotion it produces upon me."
After a pause full of intense thought on my part, I asked: "But if one hasn't always emotion. What then?"
"Do not paint," he quickly answered. "When I came in here to work this morning I had no emotion, so I took a horseback ride. When I returned I felt like painting, and had all the emotion I wanted.”

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Henri Matisse

Interview with Clara T. MacChesney (1912), in Matisse on Art (1995) edited by Jack D. Flam, p. 66
1910s

“To paint an autumn landscape I will not try to remember what colors suit this season, I will only be inspired by the sensation that the season gives me; the icy clearness of the sour blue sky will express the season just as well as the tonalities of the leaves. My sensation itself may vary, the autumn may be soft and warm like a protracted summer or quite cool with a cold sky and lemon yellow trees that give a chilly impression and announce winter.”

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Henri Matisse

Origine: 1900s, Notes d'un Peintre (Notes of a Painter) (1908), p. 412

“A picture must possess a real power to generate light.... for a long time now I've been conscious of expressing myself through light or rather in light.”

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Henri Matisse

As quoted in Matisse (1984) by Pierre Schneider
posthumous quotes

“Drawing with scissors: To cut to the quick in color reminds me of the direct cutting of sculptors.”

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Henri Matisse

Dessiner avec les ciseaux: découper à vif dans la couleur me rappelle la taille directe des sculpteurs.
1940s, Jazz (1947)

“We are born with the sensibility of a period of civilization. We are not masters of our production; it is imposed upon us.”

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Henri Matisse

As quoted in Abstract Painting, Michel Seuphor, Dell Publishing Co., 1964, p. 9
Posthumous quotes

“I know that Seurat is completely the opposite of a romantic, which I am, but with a good portion of the scientific, of the rationalist, which creates the struggle from which I sometimes emerge the victor, but exhausted.”

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Henri Matisse

In a letter to Camoin, Autumn 1914; as quoted in Matisse on Art, Jack Flam, University of California Press 1995 p. 275, note 5
1910s

“Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence.”

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Henri Matisse

As quoted by in the review of 'The Drawings of Henri Matisse', exhibit at Manhattan's Museum of Modern Art, by Theodore F Wolff in The Christian Science Monitor (25 March 1985)
Posthumous quotes

“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 which will have a broader meaning, one more fully human.”

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Henri Matisse

1905 - 1910, Notes of a Painter' (1908)

“The vertical is in my spirit. It helps me to define precisely the direction of lines, and in quick sketches I never indicate a curve, that of a branch in landscape for example, without being aware of its relationship to the vertical.
My curves are not mad.”

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Henri Matisse

La verticale est dans mon esprit. Elle m'aide à préciser la direction des lignes, et dans mes dessins rapides je n'indique pas une courbe, par exemple, celle d'une branche dans un paysage, sans avoir conscience de son rapport avec la verticale.
Mes courbes ne sont pas folles.
1940s, Jazz (1947)

“The chief aim of color should be to serve expression as well as possible. I put down my colors without a preconceived plan. If at the first step and perhaps without my being conscious of it one tone has particularly pleased me, more often then not when the picture is finished, I will notice that I have respected this tone while I have progressively altered and transformed the others. I discover the quality of colors in a purely instinctive way.”

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Henri Matisse

Origine: 1900s, Notes d'un Peintre (Notes of a Painter) (1908), p. 412

“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.”

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Henri Matisse

Origine: 1900s, Notes d'un Peintre (Notes of a Painter) (1908), p. 413

“There is an impelling proportion of tones that may lead me to change the shape of a figure or to transform my composition. Until I have achieved this proportion in all the parts of a composition I strive towards it and keep on working. Then a moment comes when all the parts have found their definite relationships, and from then on it would be impossible for me to add a stroke to my picture without having to repaint it entirely.”

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Henri Matisse

1905 - 1910, Notes of a Painter' (1908)