Paysage Ou Rue Dans Le Midi 1918

Henri Matisse made this landscape painting, Paysage Ou Rue Dans Le Midi, at an undetermined date, with oil on canvas. He’s laid down a palette of mostly muted earth tones, offset by that beautiful cool green window. The colours are quietly audacious, and the brushstrokes are broad and casual, like he’s not trying too hard – but that’s Matisse, right? The paint has a lovely, thin consistency that allows the texture of the canvas to peek through in places. It gives the work a sense of airiness. Look at the way he’s rendered the foliage on the right side of the composition: it's almost abstract, just a series of squiggles and dashes of paint that somehow coalesce into the impression of leaves and branches. It’s this balance between representation and abstraction that makes Matisse so compelling. Matisse’s mark-making feels very connected to someone like Philip Guston – later in their careers both artists found a freedom in simplifying their forms. This is what I love about art; it's a conversation across time and space, and it’s up to us to keep it going.