--- title: "3 Canvas Quotes By Henri Matisse" description: "3 Canvas quotes by Henri Matisse. Plus more from Henri Matisse and more Canvas sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b61/henri-matisse-1641_artist_put-a-colour-upon-a-canvas-it-not-only-c_692737.jpg" --- > [Put a colour upon a canvas - it not only colours with that colour the part of the canvas to which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/put-a-colour-upon-a-canvas-it-not-only-colours-with-that-colour-the/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b61/henri-matisse-1641_artist_put-a-colour-upon-a-canvas-it-not-only-c_692737.jpg) > [I never retouch a sketch: I take a canvas the same size, as I may change the composition somewhat. But I always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/i-never-retouch-a-sketch-i-take-a-canvas-the-same-size-as-i-may/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f88/henri-matisse-1641_artist_i-never-retouch-a-sketch-i-take-a-canvas_798986.jpg) > [An artist who wants to transpose a composition onto a larger canvas must conceive it over again in order to preserve its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/an-artist-who-wants-to-transpose-a-composition-onto-a-larger-canvas/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/859/henri-matisse-1641_art_an-artist-who-wants-to-transpose-a-compo_1780380.jpg) ## Other authors on Canvas - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-anna-bartlett-warner-13611.jpg) Philip Guston 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/philip-guston/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-pablo-picasso-73081.jpg) Pablo Picasso 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/pablo-picasso/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b011/author-henry-david-thoreau-41473.jpg) Henry David Thoreau 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/henry-david-thoreau/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b007/author-danny-kaye-26721.jpg) Danny Kaye 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/danny-kaye/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-vincent-van-gogh-93793.jpg) Vincent Van Gogh 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/vincent-van-gogh/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-bernard-beckett-17293.jpg) Charles Webster Hawthorne 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/charles-webster-hawthorne/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-wassily-kandinsky-94601.jpg) Wassily Kandinsky 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/wassily-kandinsky/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-alfred-jodl-11301.jpg) John Constable 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/john-constable/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b013/author-joan-miro-50198.jpg) Joan Miro 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/joan-miro/) ## More by Henri Matisse > [The wall around the window does not create two worlds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/the-wall-around-the-window-does-not-create-two-worlds/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [Arrival = Prison, and the artist must never be a prisoner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/arrival-prison-and-the-artist-must-never-be-a-prisoner/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [To arrive is to be in prison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/to-arrive-is-to-be-in-prison/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [When I saw what a mess everything was in I asked for my money back on the ticket. I would have felt I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/when-i-saw-what-a-mess-everything-was-in-i-asked-for-my-money-back-on/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [A painting in an interior spreads joy around it by the colors, which calm us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/a-painting-in-an-interior-spreads-joy-around-it-by-the-colors-which/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [Color was not given to us in order that we should imitate Nature. It was given to us so that we can express our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/color-was-not-given-to-us-in-order-that-we-should-imitate-nature-it/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [If it is practiced by a man of taste, the photograph will have the appearance of art (but) the photographer must...intervene as little as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/if-it-is-practiced-by-a-man-of-taste-the-photograph-will-have-the/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [I have always tried to hide my efforts and wished my works to have a light joyousness of springtime which never lets anyone suspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/i-have-always-tried-to-hide-my-efforts-and-wished-my-works-to-have-a/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [The chief function of color should be to serve expression as well as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/the-chief-function-of-color-should-be-to-serve-expression-as-well-as/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [One gets into a state of creativity by conscious work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/one-gets-into-a-state-of-creativity-by-conscious-work/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [My pictures are made up of four or five colors that collide with one another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/my-pictures-are-made-up-of-four-or-five-colors-that-collide-with-one/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [What I dream of is an art of balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/what-i-dream-of-is-an-art-of-balance/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [...I am driven on by an idea that I really only grasp as it grows with the picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/i-am-driven-on-by-an-idea-that-i-really-only-grasp-as-it-grows-with/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/i-don-t-paint-things-i-only-paint-the-difference-between-things/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [After a half-century of hard work and reflection the wall is still there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/after-a-half-century-of-hard-work-and-reflection-the-wall-is-still/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/henri-matisse/#itemlist", "name": "3 Canvas Quotes By Henri Matisse", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Put a colour upon a canvas - it not only colours with that colour the part of the canvas to which the colour has been applied, but it also colours the surrounding space with the complementary.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henri Matisse" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/put-a-colour-upon-a-canvas-it-not-only-colours-with-that-colour-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b61/henri-matisse-1641_artist_put-a-colour-upon-a-canvas-it-not-only-c_692737.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b61/henri-matisse-1641_artist_put-a-colour-upon-a-canvas-it-not-only-c_692737.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b61/henri-matisse-1641_artist_put-a-colour-upon-a-canvas-it-not-only-c_692737.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Put a colour upon a canvas - it not only colours with that colour the part of the canvas to which the colour…” — Henri Matisse", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I never retouch a sketch: I take a canvas the same size, as I may change the composition somewhat. 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