Stained Glass Window Window of the abside of the Rosary Chapel 1949

This stained glass window was made by Henri Matisse for the Rosary Chapel. It’s a symphony of colors playing out in simple shapes, a dance of artmaking as a process. Matisse coaxes the colors to sing, not just to sit still. Look at the texture of the glass, how it catches the light, how the colours shift with the sun. Notice the interplay of the blues, greens, and yellows, each rectangle singing its own tune while harmonizing with its neighbor. Then there are the leaves, like Matisse's own handwriting scattered across the windows. That single red leaf in the middle, almost vibrating against the blue, it encapsulates the quiet audacity of this piece. Like a single exclamation point in a poem, it shifts the whole tone. And it makes me think, this is Matisse, but it’s also a nod to all the colorists, like Bonnard. Art is just artists chatting with each other across time, isn’t it? It's all about keeping the conversation flowing, where ambiguity is the spice and multiple interpretations are the feast.