La Moulade 1905

Henri Matisse painted this landscape, La Moulade, with oil on canvas. The scene is built from a series of gestural marks that articulate the visible forms, the movement of the waves and the craggy texture of the rocks. The paint is applied in thick strokes, built up on the canvas surface and layered with complementary hues. The color choices aren’t naturalistic, they seem based on a kind of emotional weather forecast. Look at how the ultramarine blue extends from the sea into the shadows of the rocks, which also pick up the pink of the sand. The painting’s materiality is upfront, it's not trying to trick us into believing that we’re looking at real space. Instead, we are reminded that we’re looking at pigment on a surface. You might see echoes of Van Gogh in Matisse's brushwork, but I think you can really see the influence of Paul Cezanne here. Like Cezanne, Matisse embraced ambiguity and multiple interpretations. The scene is felt, more than seen.