Flowers and Ceramic Plate 1913

Henri Matisse made this painting of flowers and a ceramic plate with oil on canvas, and what grabs me is the almost brutal simplicity of it all. You can see the raw strokes, the way he just went at it, not fussing too much with details. It's like he's saying, "Here it is, life in paint." Look at that vase of flowers – a riot of reds, yellows, and greens against a blue that vibrates. The paint is thick in places, thin in others, creating a surface that feels alive. The way he's handled the shadows around the plate, it's almost like he's daring you to see the painting as a flat surface, and a window onto another world. Matisse is always talking to other artists, and it feels like he's nodding to Cézanne here, pushing and pulling at the edges of representation. It's a conversation, a game, and he's inviting us to play along.