Henri Matisse

"I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things."

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

"Time extracts various values from a painter's work. When these values are exhausted the pictures are forgotten, and the more a picture has to give, the greater it is."

"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."

"Creativity takes courage."

"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."