Woman on a Sofa, Yellow and Blue 1936

Henri Matisse made this painting of a woman on a sofa, probably in the first half of the twentieth century, using oil on canvas. The colours are really popping, aren’t they? It’s like he’s squeezing pure pigment right onto the canvas. The paint handling here is so playful. I love how he uses these little dashes and strokes to build up the form of the woman, almost like he’s sketching with paint. Look at the way he’s rendered the fabric draped over her legs. See how the blue and white strokes create the illusion of light and shadow, giving it a real sense of volume. I love how casual the execution is. Matisse wasn't afraid to leave some of the canvas exposed, which adds to the overall sense of spontaneity and immediacy. Matisse is kind of like the OG of process-based painting. You see this kind of mark-making in a lot of contemporary painting today. I'm thinking of someone like Elizabeth Peyton, how she uses a similar kind of loose, gestural approach to capture the essence of her subjects. It's all about capturing a feeling, an impression, rather than a photographic likeness.