Nude 1919

Matisse made this watercolor painting called Nude on paper, using soft washes of color and confident contour lines. You can almost feel the brushstrokes and the way the water pooled on the page as the image came into being. I can imagine Matisse circling the model and capturing her presence with his brush: the curve of the shoulders, the soft belly, the angle of the head. The hat is a flurry of brushstrokes, balanced by the solid lines of the woman's torso. See how the figure blends into the background? The whole image is connected. Matisse was always looking at other painters, and he was a great draftsman. I see echoes of Ingres and Cezanne here. Artists are always in dialogue with one another. They push each other forward, and they all share a love of making things. A painting is a conversation that never ends.