Le Pont c. 1901

Henri Matisse made Le Pont with oil on canvas sometime in his career, and the funny thing about a painting like this is that it teaches you how to see. I think artmaking is just a process of constant discovery; it’s all about unveiling, isn’t it? Here, Matisse isn't trying to fool you with realism. Instead, he's laying down these chunky, juicy strokes of color—blues, greens, oranges—that dance across the surface. Look how the bridge itself is barely there, just a suggestion made of quick daubs and gestures. You can almost feel him there, squinting at the light, trying to capture not just what he sees, but how it feels to be there. This kind of raw, direct approach reminds me of some of Joan Mitchell’s landscapes, where the landscape is less about the thing itself, and more about a feeling. Matisse invites us to participate in the act of seeing, embracing ambiguity and rejecting the need for definitive answers.