Three Sisters and ‘The Rose Marble Table’ 1917

Henri Matisse painted these three figures with oils, and maybe some turpentine, who knows? What I see here are broad, slightly clumsy strokes that give the painting a really charming, intimate feeling. Imagine Matisse, leaning in, squinting, trying to capture the essence of these women and the domestic scene they inhabit. I see him layering the paint, one color over another. Notice the pink flower shapes he paints on the figure to the right. They are repeated shapes but never exactly the same - it makes me think of the way patterns repeat in our lives, but nothing is ever exactly the same. How do you capture that in paint? These sisters remind me of my own family. What an amazing thing that Matisse, working away, becomes part of an ongoing conversation that painters have across the centuries. I feel part of this conversation too!