Head of a Child - Apollon (Tête d'enfant - Apollon) 1914

Henri Matisse made this drawing, Head of a Child, and you can see his lines searching, trying to find the form. It’s like he's feeling his way around the face, mapping out the features with delicate strokes. I imagine Matisse, his brow furrowed in concentration, gently coaxing the image into being. The eyes, those expressive pools, are not just seen but felt. They are the windows to the soul, right? And then there's the hair, loosely rendered, with each strand carrying a sense of lightness and movement. The whole thing has this incredible, casual energy to it, like he's capturing a fleeting moment, a breath, a whisper of a child’s presence. You know, that's a very Matisse kind of thing to do. He was always looking for that essential quality. It reminds me a little of Picasso, in a weird way. Like they’re always egging each other on, trying to push the limits of representation.