Still Life With A Purro (II) 1904

Henri Matisse painted this still life, probably in France, with oil paint on canvas. Look closely, and you’ll see it's made up of a mosaic of dots and dashes. It’s like he’s broken the world down into pure color and light. The surface is alive! It buzzes with energy. The paint isn’t thick, but the way he’s applied it, in these little touches, creates a real sense of texture. Take the background, for instance. It's a field of yellows, oranges, and reds. The longer I look the more I can see how they seem to vibrate and dance. It's like Matisse is trying to capture the feeling of light itself. You see, in Matisse’s work, it’s like you are always looking for the subject. He reminds me a little of someone like Bonnard, in the way that he can build a whole world from color, and make something that's so immediate, and yet so elusive. It’s a reminder that art is about the experience, not just the object.