Art Quote -- Matisse, Notes of a Painter, 1908

Fig1: Henri Matisse, Le bonheur de vivre, oil on canvas, 1905-1906

What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity, devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter, an art which could be for every mental worker, for the business-man as well as the man of letters, for example, a soothing, calming influence on the mind, something like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.