Moroccan Landscape 1913

Henri Matisse made this painting, Moroccan Landscape, with oil paint, at some point in his career. It is so interesting how the layers of colour almost vibrate on the canvas, like one of those optical illusion things. Check out the blues and greens, how he lets them bleed into each other. Up close you can see the paint's texture. It is thin in places, like a watercolour, and then thick elsewhere, like he was building up little pools of colour. Look at the way he paints the trunks of the trees with confident, bold strokes. Then notice how he contrasts these with delicate lines for the leaves. This interplay of thick and thin creates a rhythm, like the landscape is breathing. The physicality of the medium makes it feel so alive. Matisse really knew how to build on Cezanne's work but took it in a totally different direction, but that is what art is all about right? A never-ending conversation.