Henri Matisse was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, born in northern France. He first studied law and turned to art around the age of 20. He is often named alongside Picasso as one of the two giants of 20th-century art and is most popularly known for paper cutout art, which he made during his last years when illness made him a frail-bodied man.Beyond being an artist, he often spoke about profound ideas that remain relevant even today.He once talked of a relatable feeling surrounding the situation when we begin to do something innovative; we often become clouded by pre-existing thoughts and judgements, due to which we begin losing creativity.His words sound simple, a little stern, and surprisingly kind.Let us dig in to know more about the profound idea behind the quote.
Quote of the day
You must forget all your theories, all your ideas before the subject. What part of these is really your own will be expressed in your expression of the emotion awakened in you by the subject
Henri Matisse
What does the quote mean
The line is widely traced to Matisse’s interview with the American painter and writer Clara T. MacChesney that appeared in the New York Times in the 1900s. He spoke in French, and a journalist wrote it down in English, so the wording may not be exactly his. Even though the exact phrasing might differ, the essence of his idea has hardly changed.So, when Matisse said these lines, he was not praising ignorance or past experiences. He had spent years in studios, copying older painters and learning the rules properly. He knew exactly what theories were worth. His point was that knowledge should never stand between you and the thing you are looking at.His core message was to learn everything, then set it down for a moment, and look because whatever part of your ideas is actually yours will survive, and it will come out as your expression of the emotion the subject awakens in you.This fits how Matisse worked. He is well known to have believed that he did not paint the table itself, but the emotion it produced in him. He also did not trust only careful drawing, for him, a perfectly copied nude was drawing, not emotion. Feeling was the point, and technique was only the road to it.
How are his words relevant today?
We live surrounded by information overload on everything today; almost every query has an answer online. Be it templates, trends, productivity rules, or even social media algorithms telling us what works before we have tried anything, we end up copying it. All of this is useful, but it makes Matisse’s words even more relevant. If we begin with what is already known, we may never meet what we actually think.
