Beside the Window 1921

Henri Matisse’s “Beside the Window” is a small-scale portal painted with oil on canvas. I can see Matisse now in my mind’s eye: holding a small brush, he conjures up these quiet, everyday scenes. It’s the kind of painting that feels so casual and nonchalant, but like, what isn’t nonchalant in painting? You know, there's always the artist's intense looking and trying. The paint isn't really thick or thin, it is juicy enough to carry color and light, but he isn't trying to build up the surface with impasto or anything like that. And the composition? Well, it's just there, like a fleeting moment captured in a breath. Painters look at other paintings all the time. Maybe Matisse was looking at Pierre Bonnard, another painter of domestic scenes and quiet moments. Painting is a way to explore the world and one's self, and to participate in this long, ongoing conversation that stretches back centuries. Ambiguity is embraced, certainty thrown out the window!