Lorette in a Green Robe against a Black Background 1916

Henri Matisse made 'Lorette in a Green Robe against a Black Background' with oil on canvas. I love the dark moody background, and the way Lorette sits in her pink chair. I can imagine Matisse making this, starting with a dark ground, maybe a layer of thinned-down black paint, and then building up the robe in broad strokes of green. Look how he suggests the folds of the fabric with just a few darker strokes of paint. I bet he was thinking about color and light, about how the green of the robe would play against the black background and the pink chair. I can almost see him stepping back from the canvas, squinting, and then adding another dab of paint here, another stroke there. It makes me think about the conversations artists have across time, Matisse looking at the Old Masters, and then later artists looking at Matisse. We're all just trying to figure out how to make a painting, how to capture something of the world on a flat surface.