The Italian Woman 1916

Henri Matisse painted "The Italian Woman," and it's like he’s feeling his way through the painting with color. The palette is subdued; the background blending almost imperceptibly from olive to grey. And there's a strange division between the woman and the space, the way the line is holding its own weight – it is not dissolving to become one with the world. Take a look at the bottom of the canvas where her hands meet. There’s no defining contour, no precise detail, just a flurry of chalky brushstrokes. This is a portrait that isn't trying to be accurate as such, but is more concerned with how it feels to be in the process of painting. It reminds me of some of Picasso's portraits, but with a lighter touch, or maybe Giacometti, but with a sense of comfort. Art is a conversation, you know? A back and forth where each artist learns and reinterprets what came before. And it is through this exchange that our understanding of the world expands. There are so many stories and ways of seeing, just waiting to be explored.