Reclining Nude with Blue Eyes 1936

Henri Matisse made this painting, Reclining Nude with Blue Eyes, in 1936 using oil paint on canvas. What gets me about this painting is how Matisse uses color and line to create a feeling more than a likeness. The pink of her skin, the red of the blanket, the blue of her necklace. The black outlines are so bold, almost cartoonish, and they flatten the space, making everything feel like it's on the same plane. I love the little squiggles of white paint on the red blanket – they're so playful. They don't really represent anything, but they add a sense of movement and energy to the composition. It reminds me a little of some of Picasso’s more playful works, especially in its use of line and simplification of form. But Matisse is doing his own thing here, turning the nude into a field for playful color combinations. It’s about how we see and how we feel when we see.