Henri Matisse Quote

A work of art must carry in itself its complete significance and impose it upon the beholder even before he can identify the subject-matter. When I see the Giotto frescoes at Padua I do not trouble to recognize which scene of the life of Christ I have before me, but I perceive instantly the sentiment which radiates from it and which is instinct in the composition in every line and color.

p. 413 - 'Notes d'un Peintre', (Notes of a Painter), H. Matisse (1908)