Woman with a White Dress 1934

Henri Matisse painted “Woman with a White Dress,” an oil on canvas, at an unknown date. There’s this incredible layering happening, a process of addition and subtraction. The color is laid on so thinly in places, almost like a watercolor, allowing the ground to breathe through. You can see the ghost of the brushstrokes, the history of its making. Look at the way he's handled the dress. It's a white dress, but it's also every color. There are strokes of pale blues, greys, and lavenders, all dancing together, describing the fall of the fabric. The underpainting peeks through, reminding you that this isn't just a dress; it’s paint, it's material, and it’s a record of looking. It's like he's trying to capture not just the dress, but the light, the air, the very act of seeing itself. Matisse reminds me of Morandi, in the sense of his exploration of simple forms, his focus on color and light. Both artists embraced ambiguity, they were both searching for new ways of seeing.