Odalisque with a Green Plant and Screen 1923

This is likely one of the many odalisques Henri Matisse produced, with what looks like oil on canvas. I imagine Matisse in his studio, surrounded by props, models, and light. This painting almost pulses with color and the decorative patterns, especially those pants! You know, I can almost feel the act of painting itself – the brush dancing across the canvas, the colors shifting and emerging through intuition. There’s a sense of play here, and freedom. The figure is sensuous, the background flat and decorative. All those arabesques and the flat red ground! Maybe he was thinking about how different forms of painting offer different ways of seeing and experiencing the world. You can see how Matisse inspired so many other painters, like David Hockney, with their shared love of bright color. Artists are always in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Painting is a form of embodied expression which embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.