Seated Woman 1936

Matisse made this Seated Woman with oil on canvas. The colours are, let's say, not trying too hard, just simple blocks of colour, but the black lines that define the shapes? Those really sing. The whole painting feels like a drawing that got coloured in later, in a good way. Look at the arms, the way the light and shadow are just suggested, the flatness of the chest, almost like a paper doll. And that red, it’s not just red, it's got these gorgeous whites dancing through it, making the whole thing vibrate. It’s like he’s saying, ‘Here’s a woman, but really, it’s just paint, just shapes, just colour having a party.’ He messes around with perception in the same way as someone like Fairfield Porter, who also used a similar intimate domesticity and casual painting style. It's not about getting it 'right', it's about seeing, feeling, and then letting the paint do its thing.