Picasso and Matisse were the guys I wanted to get away…
“Picasso and Matisse were the guys I wanted to get away from, and cubism is all still lifes. Their paintings are all closed drawings. And still life is a perfect form for that. By the mid-'50s, I sort of dropped the still life. The large picture was a way of getting around them, too. The abstract expressionists were also into the large form because it was a way of getting around Matisse and Picasso. Picasso can't paint big paintings. Matisse didn't bother after a certain point.”
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Katz describes moving away from small, closed compositions toward larger formats to escape the influence of Picasso and Matisse, noting that abstract expressionists also favored large canvases for similar reasons.
In simple terms: He shifted to big paintings to avoid being limited by earlier masters.
Key Takeaway
Embrace larger formats to break artistic constraints.
Themes
art
influence
medium
scale
freedom
Mood
reflective
analytical
Type
critical
historical
When to use this quote
- gallery exhibitions
- studio practice
- art education
- curatorial planning
Key Concepts
modernism
abstract expressionism
cubism
artistic evolution
Questions to Reflect On
- How does canvas size affect your creative choices?
- What limits do you feel from artistic predecessors?
A Different Perspective
Large works may still echo earlier influences despite scale change.