Reclining Nude (The Painter and his Model) 1935

Henri Matisse made this drawing of a reclining nude, and a painter at work, with ink on paper. Look at the way Matisse uses line. It’s so free and confident, not trying to be perfect, but capturing the energy of the moment. I love how he simplifies the forms, boiling them down to their essence. It's like he's saying, "Here's the truth of this body, this space, in just a few strokes." The artist in the background, drawing, and the model in the foreground, with the drawing on the table in front, it all creates a sense of depth. The ink is dark, the page is bright, that’s it. This way of working reminds me a lot of Picasso, especially his line drawings. It's like they're both having a conversation about how much you can say with so little. Art is always about that conversation, right?