Odalisque, Harmony in Red 1926

Henri Matisse painted 'Odalisque, Harmony in Red,' sometime in the early 20th century; it’s an oil on canvas. The juicy colour, the way it makes space feel so tangible and expressive, is just fantastic. I think Matisse really understands how colours vibrate and how they play off one another to create a sense of depth. Look at the red of the background, how it pulsates and almost comes forward. The paint is applied pretty thinly in some areas, letting the canvas breathe, while in other spots, like the folds of the drapery, it's thicker. I love the way he uses these tactile variations to animate the surface and give a sense of movement to the piece. The golden, ornamental object to the left shimmers against the red; he repeats that particular shade of red as an echo beneath the figure. You see the conversation he's having with colour. Like with Bonnard, the space between observed reality and inner experience really collapse. These artists really knew how to let the colours sing.