Henri Matisse

Suppose I have to paint an interior, I have before me a cupboard. It gives me a sensation of vivid red and I put down a red that satisfies me. A relation is established between this red and the white of the canvas. Then we put a green near the red and make the floor yellow and again there would be relationships between the green or the yellow and the white of the canvas which will satisfy me. I’m forced to transpose until finally my picture makes it completely changed. From the relationships I found in old times, that must result in a living harmony of colors, a harmony analogous to that of a musical composition.

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