Female toilets 1907

Henri Matisse made this painting of two women in a toilet with oil on canvas. The first thing I notice is the way the colors don’t quite match up with what they’re supposed to be - skin tones are more of a burnt orange, and the green is almost turquoise. It's like he's not trying to trick us into thinking this is real, but rather, he's offering us a glimpse into a different kind of reality, one that's filtered through his own senses and translated onto the canvas. Check out the way the paint is applied. It's loose and gestural, with visible brushstrokes that give the surface a tangible, almost sculptural quality. When you look at the curves of the women’s bodies, you can see the energy of the artist's hand moving across the canvas. This reminds me of Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, not in subject matter, but in the way it challenges our perceptions. It is a dialogue across time, where one artist builds upon the ideas of another, pushing the boundaries of what art can be.