The Artist and his model 1919

Henri Matisse, sometime in his past, painted ‘The Artist and his model’ with an energy that just explodes off the canvas. The immediacy of the marks, the vibrant palette, it's all so very Matisse. Check out the texture, the way the paint is applied so thinly in some areas and then built up in others, like the tablecloth with those intense red and white stripes. You can practically feel the roughness of the canvas beneath. And then there's the model herself, rendered with such a delicate touch, those beautiful curves created with the simplest of lines. What’s wild is how all these separate acts cohere into this compelling composition, and how you sense this conversation, this little dance between the artist and his model, all frozen in time but still alive with possibilities. It reminds me a little of Picasso, but where Picasso is angular and confrontational, Matisse is all about harmony and pleasure, the pure joy of seeing.