Woman Before a Fish Bowl 1922

Henri Matisse made this painting of a Woman Before a Fish Bowl, and what strikes me is the dance between intention and accident. Look at the way the blues in the background pattern play against the muted tones of the woman's face. It's like he's setting up a stage for her, but the stage is as much about color and texture as it is about narrative. The surface has a velvety texture, you can see the strokes, they’re not hidden but add to the picture. The fishbowl, almost an abstract sphere, containing life. I can almost feel the brushstrokes as if they were their own little sculptures. There's a tension between what's rendered and what's suggested, which keeps our eyes moving and our minds questioning. It reminds me of Cezanne, how he played with form and perspective, pushing the boundaries of what painting could be. It's a conversation, a visual dialogue that spans decades. And ultimately, it's about embracing the unknown.