Une Rue À Arcueil 1904

Henri Matisse made this painting, "Une Rue À Arcueil," with oil on canvas, and what strikes me is how he’s playing with what paint can do. The color palette is wild, and the marks are so present. It’s like, look at how the brushstrokes build up the road! That pinkish-purple isn’t trying to trick you into thinking it’s a real street. It’s paint, laid on thick, doing its own thing. The buildings are a riot of yellows and reds. It’s so physical. You can almost feel Matisse pushing the paint around, deciding where to let it sit, where to blend it, and where to leave it raw. Check out the way the light hits the right-hand building, those choppy strokes giving it this vibrating energy. Matisse is in conversation with painters like Van Gogh who were obsessed with capturing light and emotion through visible marks. It’s a reminder that art isn’t about perfect representation, but about the joy of making and seeing.