T
he present work exemplifies a new level of intensity that Matisse achieved in his exploration of line in black and white in the early 1940s, and prefigures his bold brush and black ink compositions from later in the decade.
“Drawing does not depend on forms being copied exactly as they are in nature or on the patient assembling of exact details, but on the profound feeling of the artist before the objects that he has chosen, on which his attention is focused."
The influence of Matisse’s groundbreaking use of color and composition can be seen in the work of contemporary artists, including David Hockney and Jonas Wood. Likening Wood’s singular approach to that of Matisse, art historian Ken D. Allan states: “In 1908 Henri Matisse explained, ‘The entire arrangement of my picture is expressive… Composition is the art of arranging in a decorative manner the diverse elements at the painter’s disposal to express his feelings.’ Wood’s return to such questions allows us to see that painting’s delivery of visual pleasure has a history—a history that Wood’s work surely continues” (quoted in Jonas Wood (exhibition catalogue), Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, 2019, pp. 22-23).
