Moorish Screen 1921

Henri Matisse made this painting, Moorish Screen, with oil on canvas. I like to think about the way the painting came into being. It shifted and emerged through color, pattern, and intuition. It’s easy to sympathize with Matisse. What was he thinking when he made this? He used a thin paint, a way of seeing the world as light. A pattern. Look at the way he’s painted the interior. The screens, the carpets, the wallpaper, the dresses. It’s like he’s filling every space with his feelings. The screens are an intense ground of flowers in a tile pattern; then the carpets explode in a contrasting color and texture. These gestures communicate intention and meaning. He makes such original works! He painted the way he saw color and how it felt. You see the light that inspired him and all the work of the past that has been reborn within his brush. Artists are in ongoing conversation, inspiring each other. Painting is an embodied expression, open to many interpretations.