Seated Woman with a Vase of Amaryllis 1941

Henri Matisse made "Seated Woman with a Vase of Amaryllis" with oil on canvas. The colors are so bold, right? They feel both carefully chosen and totally spontaneous, like a jazz riff. You can see Matisse working through the process, making decisions right there on the canvas. Check out the surface. It's not trying to hide anything. You can see the strokes, the way he layered the paint to build up these incredible textures. The green of that tabletop, for example, is like a whole world in itself, thick and juicy. And those black outlines everywhere, they’re so casual but give the whole thing this graphic punch. For me, it's about this idea that art is a conversation. It makes me think of another painter like Elizabeth Murray and her use of colour. With painting it’s not about answers, it’s about possibilities.