I've been forty years discovering that the queen of all colors is black.
Henri MatisseRead
The importance of an artist is to be measured by the quantity of new signs which he has introduced to the language of art.
Interpretation
An artist's value lies in their ability to create and introduce new ideas and expressions within the art world.
Henri Matisse emphasizes that the significance of an artist is determined by their innovation and contribution to the evolving lexicon of art. Artists are essential for enriching the creativity and diversity of artistic expression, as they bring forth new symbols, techniques, and concepts that redefine how we perceive and experience art.
In practice
In a discussion about modern art movements, this quote could be used to highlight the importance of innovation in artistic practice.
I've been forty years discovering that the queen of all colors is black.
Whoever wishes to devote himself to painting should begin by cutting out his own tongue
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.
It is not enough to place colors, however beautiful, one beside the other; colors must also react on one another. Otherwise, you have cacophony.
Color, even more than drawing, is a means of liberation.
Don't try to be original. Be simple. Be good technically, and if there is something in you, it will come out.
In a way, editing is not unlike the movies. The best books, just like the best movies, are a collaboration. They're only as good as the compromise made between the artists involved.
Is he on his horse? O happy horse, to bear the weight of Antony!
The best writing is certainly when you are in love
[May 1958, on playing Macbeth at age 30 and age 48] When you're a young man, Macbeth is a character part. When you're older, it's a straight part.
The only advice I can give to aspiring writers is don't do it unless you're willing to give your whole life to it. Red wine and garlic also helps.
The very paradigm of revolution, of right versus wrong, good versus bad, is a relic with no bearing on the present. Yet artists, exhibitions, and curators valorize the sixties. People who wrote about these artists 30 years ago still write about them in the same ways, often for the same magazines.
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