Zorah on the Terrace 1912

Henri Matisse made *Zorah on the Terrace* with oil on canvas. Look at how the painting's blues seem to seep into everything. It's like being underwater. The paint isn't trying to hide; you can see the brushstrokes, especially in the background. It's pretty thinly applied, which gives it this airy, light-filled quality. Take a look at the patterning on Zorah's clothing, each mark is carefully placed, a yellow squiggle framed by blue. The way Matisse renders it, it's not just decoration, it feels like a part of her, a kind of aura. Matisse's influence is everywhere, but when I look at this I see the way his work talks to Gauguin’s, that same love of decorative pattern, flattened space and dream-like scenarios. Art isn’t about answers, is it? More like a continuous conversation, where everyone is trying to figure things out together.