---
title: "Henri Matisse Quotes on Composition | QuotesBy.net"
description: "4 quotes by Henri Matisse about composition."
image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png"
---

## Henri Matisse quotes on composition

1. > Expression for me does not reside in passions glowing in a human face or manifested by violent movement. The entire arrangement of my picture is expressive; the place occupied by my figures, the empty space around them, the proportions, everything has its share. Composition is the art of arranging in a decorative manner the diverse elements at the painter's command to express his feelings. In a picture every part will be visible and will play its appointed role, whether it be principal or secondary. Everything that is not useful in the picture is, it follows, harmful. A work of art must be harmonious in its entirety: any superfluous detail would replace some other essential detail in the mind of the spectator.

[Permalink to quote \#15](https://quotesby.net/Henri-Matisse/15/ "Permalink to quote 15")
2. > There is an impelling proportion of tones that may lead me to change the shape of a figure or to transform my composition. Until I have achieved this proportion in all the parts of a composition I strive towards it and keep on working. Then a moment comes when all the parts have found their definite relationships, and from then on it would be impossible for me to add a stroke to my picture without having to repaint it entirely.

[Permalink to quote \#19](https://quotesby.net/Henri-Matisse/19/ "Permalink to quote 19")
3. > The vertical is in my spirit. It helps me to define precisely the direction of lines, and in quick sketches I never indicate a curve, that of a branch in landscape for example, without being aware of its relationship to the vertical. My curves are not mad.

[Permalink to quote \#23](https://quotesby.net/Henri-Matisse/23/ "Permalink to quote 23")
4. > Composition is the art of arranging in a decorative manner the various elements at the painter's disposal for the expression of his feelings.

[Permalink to quote \#39](https://quotesby.net/Henri-Matisse/39/ "Permalink to quote 39")

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