Etude au fauteuil rayé 1923

Henri Matisse made this drawing, Etude au fauteuil rayé, and what I notice right away is its graphic quality, it is almost a cartoon. I imagine Matisse moving charcoal across the paper, shifting and adjusting the shapes, building up a network of lines to describe this woman, seated in a chair. I see him standing back, squinting, and then leaning in again, adding more marks to define a contour or deepen a shadow. I empathize with Matisse here. Look how the hatching defines the form of her leg, and the way the stripes of the chair create a rhythmic backdrop. Matisse's skill lies in his ability to suggest volume and depth with such simple means. His marks have an energy that reminds me of other masters of line like Picasso or de Kooning. These guys were all in conversation. Matisse embraces the immediacy of drawing, capturing a fleeting moment with confidence and a sense of play, because drawing can be very rewarding, like a form of discovery.