Woman Reclining 1921

Henri Matisse made this painting of a reclining woman with oil on canvas, and it's a window into his world. The way the colors melt into each other, like the coral-reds against the pale pinks of the chaise lounge, makes me think about Matisse playing with the paint, probably shifting things around, one color informing the next, until the whole scene hums. The woman herself is like a soft sculpture, draped in striped cloth, maybe a shawl? The stripes create these interesting optical patterns, almost camouflaging her into the scene. I wonder what Matisse was thinking about when he made this? I mean, he’s always looking at Bonnard, and all the other great colourists, and he probably wanted to create a space for himself. It makes me think about how we're all in conversation, painters especially, across time, riffing off each other, and maybe even challenging each other. Painting is like that, it's a messy conversation that embraces uncertainty, and that’s what makes it so interesting.