Seascape 1906

Henri Matisse created this Seascape with oils, using brushstrokes that look like rectangular tiles, especially in the foreground. It’s like he’s building the painting one block at a time. I like to imagine Matisse standing in front of his easel, squinting at the scene before him, trying to capture the essence of the sea and sky. The paint is applied pretty thickly, so the surface has a tactile quality. The dark blues and browns in the foreground contrast with the warm yellows and oranges of the sky, creating a sense of depth and atmosphere. It's wild! There’s a rhythm to the brushstrokes, a kind of visual music. It reminds me of the way he uses color and pattern in his later cut-outs. You can see him working through something here, trying to figure out how to translate the experience of being in nature into the language of paint. All painters are in conversation, across time. We are all inspiring each other’s creativity. Painting is an ongoing exchange of ideas.