Art Student: Realist or Abstract Art?

I found this quote in A Concise History of Modern Painting– my current bedside book.

“To paint an autumn landscape I will not try to remember what colours suit the season, I will be inspired only by the sensation that the season gives me; the icy clearness of the sour blue sky will express the season just as well as the tonalities of the leaves. My sensation itself may vary, the autumn may be soft and warm like a protracted summer or quite cool with a cold sky and lemon yellow trees that give a chilly impression and announce winter.”

Autumn Landscape with Boats – Kadinsky 1908

It is a dense read that usually puts me to sleep, but as someone who never pondered over Matisse’s artwork I found it to be interesting …and awakening to learn his thought process.