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About this quote

What does it mean?
Work made late in life can still feel fresh and full of new life despite age or illness.
In plain terms
Even old and sick artists can make work that feels new and alive.
What can you take from it?
Age or illness does not have to drain vitality from creative work.

Where it applies

  • late career
  • challenging times
  • long practice

Putting it to work

  • focus on energy
  • trust experience
  • keep creating

Questions to consider

  • Can old work feel young?
  • How does age affect creativity?

Another view

Physical limitations can still restrict the scope or quantity of work.

More from Henri Matisse

  1. Matisse makes a drawing, then he makes a copy of it. He recopies it five times, ten times, always clarifying the line. He's convinced that the last, the most s…

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  2. Civilization is an active deposit which is formed by the combustion of the Present with the Past. Neither in countries without a Present nor in those without a…

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  3. We are not here in the presence of an extravagant or an extremist undertaking: Matisse's art is eminently reasonable.

    Permalink to quote #44

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