Woman at the Piano 1924

Henri Matisse made "Woman at the Piano" with what looks like oil paint in a way that really celebrates the joy of making. The marks are bold and the colors are singing. It feels like he's inviting us to see painting as a process, not just a picture. Look at how the red of the wall flowers almost vibrates against the woman's blue dress. The paint is applied in confident strokes, thick in some places, letting us see the texture and energy of his hand. I love the way he renders the sheet music, turning it into a field of abstract shapes. It's not about perfect representation but capturing the essence of music and atmosphere. Matisse and Bonnard feel like they were having a conversation about colour, light and domestic spaces. With Matisse, there's always this feeling of being in the moment, of capturing something fleeting and turning it into something timeless. It’s this embrace of ambiguity that makes his work so endlessly fascinating.