Les Coucous, Tapis Bleu Et Rose 1911

Henri Matisse conjured *Les Coucous, Tapis Bleu Et Rose* with oils on canvas, and I can only imagine the dance he had with the painting! I mean, just look at how the flat planes of color meet—that blue!—creating a shallow space where the objects seem to float. I bet he was up all night thinking about how to resolve them. The rhythmic patterns, those arabesques on the vase, the floral motifs on the tablecloth, must've been a real balancing act. You know, thinking about his cut-outs, like big paper dolls, I wonder if he approached painting in a similar way, layering shapes and colors until they hit just the right note. Matisse was a master of color and he reminds us that painting isn't about representation. Instead, it’s about feeling and vision.