Head of a Child - Apollon (Tête d'enfant - Apollon) 1914

Henri Matisse drew this "Head of a Child - Apollon" and I'm struck by the way he used line. It's so simple, almost like a doodle, but it captures something really essential about this child's face. It's like he's thinking through the form right there on the page. Look at the eyes, how they're just a few quick strokes, but they manage to convey a sense of depth and emotion. The mouth, too, is so minimal, but it gives the face a certain softness. And the hair, it's just a tangle of lines, but it suggests movement and volume. The texture of the paper itself becomes part of the drawing, adding a sense of warmth and intimacy. Matisse's work reminds me a little of Picasso, in the way they both approached form with such freedom and experimentation. But Matisse has a lightness, a sense of joy, that's all his own. For me, this piece is less about a perfect likeness and more about the act of seeing, of trying to capture something fleeting and ephemeral.