A picture must possess a real power to generate light and for a long time now I’ve been conscious of expressing myself through light or rather in light.

In this remark Matisse frames painting not as the depiction of illuminated objects but as an art that should itself “emit” light—an effect achieved through color relationships, tonal clarity, and compositional balance. The statement reflects a central ambition of his mature work: to use color as an independent force that creates radiance and atmosphere rather than merely describing surfaces. By saying he expresses himself “through light or rather in light,” he suggests that light is not just a subject but the very medium of his feeling and thought—an organizing principle that can convey serenity, intensity, or joy. The quote also hints at modernism’s shift from imitation toward the construction of visual experience.