Vase d’anémones 1946

Henri Matisse made this painting of anemones in a vase with oil on canvas and it looks like it was a pretty quick job. It’s all about gesture and colour, not careful detail. The colours here are so interesting. He’s using a lot of contrasting colours that vibrate against each other. Look at the cool purple background against the warm yellows and oranges in the foreground. The paint is applied pretty thickly, and you can see the marks of the brush all over the canvas. There's one dark, almost black mark to the left which I keep coming back to - it anchors that side of the composition and draws your eye around the whole scene. Matisse is someone who I look to often, especially when I am trying to keep my paintings loose and not get too caught up in the details. I think it's so interesting to see how he can create such a vibrant and lively image with such simple means. For me, he manages to find the sweet spot of embracing ambiguity over fixed meanings.