I've been forty years discovering that the queen of all colors is black.
Henri MatisseRead
The living model, the naked body of a woman, is the privileged seat of feeling, but also of questioning... The model must mark you, awaken in you an emotion which you seek in turn to express.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the emotional and questioning nature of art, especially in the portrayal of the female form.
Henri Matisse suggests that the female body, as a living model, serves as a powerful source of emotion and inquiry for artists. The model's presence should evoke feelings that inspire the artist to express those emotions through their work, creating a dynamic relationship between the subject and the artist.
Themes
ArtEmotionFemale BodyExpressionModel
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the impact of the human form in art.
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
The job of a storyteller is to speak the truth. But what we feel most deeply can’t be spoken in words alone. At this level, only images connect. And here, story becomes symbol; symbol is myth. And myth is truth.
Alan GarnerRead
To play the trumpet, you must train your lips for a long time. When I was twelve or thirteen I was a good player, but I lost the skill and now I play very badly. I do it every day even so. The reason is that I want to return to my childhood. For me, the trumpet is evidence of the sort of young man I was.
Umberto EcoRead
Art is our defense against hysteria and death.
Theodore RoethkeRead
When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done.
Stephen KingRead
We live entirely, especially if we are writers, by the imposition of a narrative line upon disparate images.
Joan DidionRead
A piece of sculpture can have a hole through it and not be weakened if the hole is of a studied size, shape, and direction.
Henry MooreRead