Dance (I) 1909

Henri Matisse made this painting, Dance, with simplified forms in bold colors. I can imagine him circling around the canvas as if drawn into the movement of the figures themselves. Matisse must have felt something like a conductor of energy, working on the relationship between the dancers and the space. The red-orange bodies create a stark contrast against the intense blue background; a visual metaphor for freedom, maybe, or just human energy. I wonder if he felt a similar exhilaration when he painted his cut-outs. There is something incredibly modern in this commitment to flatness, which you can see in the work of so many abstract painters today. Dance is a celebration of life, of rhythm, and of the human body. It’s as though the canvas becomes a space where dancers and painters, across time, share the sheer joy of making and being.