"Where I got the color red—to be sure, I just don’t know, I find that all these things only become what they are to me when I see them together with the color red.” “Harmony in Red” by Henri Matisse is considered to be the artist’s masterpiece. At first glance, the motif in this scene appears quite common. The room is populated with vases, flowers and fruits. The basis of the painting is not complicated yet Matisse’s very thinking in creating this piece is sophisticated; His means of expression shows his progress as an artist. Up until this point in his career, Matisse had already experimented with several art movements. He began his career in 1890, painting still life and landscape in a traditional manner, where his works did not have the same vibrancy that we see in “Harmony in Red.” We can see that during this stage of his artistic life, Matisse did not use colour impulsively. They are rather dull and lifeless. But a few years later in 1900, Matisse bought a still life by Cézanne that inspired him. We can see Matisse evolving here; taking from what has inspired him to pave a new path. He then went on to learn from the Impressionists and the neo-impressionists at the time, and eventually became a student of John Russell—an Australian Impressionist painter—who taught him about color theory and opened up his mind to the potential that lies in a blank canvas. This was around the same time that fauvism was gaining popularity. Matisse, Maurice de Vlaminck and André Derain created the most influential pieces of the Fauvist Movement. The Fauvists started a revolution. They inspired the use of colour as a form of expression, without physical and social restrictions. Though brief, Fauvism inspired Expressionist and Contemporary art, in creating more intuitively, and for one’s desires. Although Matisse is largely known as a Fauvist, this work does not belong to the movement. Around the time he created this piece, he started to move away from Fauvism to forge his own path. He turned to a more decorative way of thinking about colours, and moved away from the abstraction of Fauvist art. The “Harmony in Red,” also knowns as “The Red Room,” my channel’s namesake, is one of the first paintings I fell in love with. It is unusual yet fascinating. It seems simple at its foundation and somehow complex. Initially, this painting was commissioned as “harmony in blue” by Sergei Shchukin—A Russian textile businessman and art collector. Shchukin was one of Matisse’s first patrons. He liked assertive art, once having said “If a picture gives you a psychological shock, buy it.” At the time, Matisse was one of the leaders of the Fauvist movement, aggressively using bold colours and creating energetic paintings, like no one else, and so it was no surprise that Shchukin was drawn to his work. Matisse decided to revise this painting after Shchukin had already taken possession of it, changing it to the colour red and obliterating the blue. The exuberant crimson red, and the rhythmic blue foliage patterns populate the canvas taking over the wall and sinking down to the table. The placement of objects would make one assume that this scene is three-dimensional, yet the entire plane seems swallowed into one. Masterfully creating space in flatness. As we gaze onto the canvas and move down, we can see a faint line at the edge of the table, not doing much to divide these two elements. The bright red blends into everything, and helps push our eyes along across the painting. On the right stands a woman bending over the table setting down a bowl of fruit. She stands in front of the wall yet behind the right side of the table, clearly separating the two, adding a bit of depth to the scene. The edge of the table in front of her is slanted. This is echoed by the chair on the other side, both creating subtle movement that plays with our eyes and creates perspective. To further create depth and intensify the colors, Matisse places a window on the top left corner, giving the viewers a moment of repose; of rest to further appreciate this intense and energetic piece. The windowsills' edges are parallel to the table’s. To add onto this elegant harmony, Matisse models the shape of the trees outside after the shape of the woman’s hair, and the blue curves decorating the bold red that cloaks the interior. The colors between these two scenes create a rich contrast; the visceral warmth of the red room inside, against the cooler blue of the space outside. What I find most interesting, is how Matisse managed to create a subtle sense of depth here using color; the faint brushstrokes that outline the objects, and the medley of the color scale. Where in other paintings we would see the use of light and shading, Matisse uses hues and saturation. Like the dark spots within the red at the top of the canvas, and the more luminiscent shades near the centre. The painting is a brilliant celebration of pattern and decorations. The brush strokes are broad and bold resembling more primitive and intuitive choices. This painting was the beginning of a series of pieces inspired by the color red that included “The Red Studio” and “The Red Interior” series. It also triggered Matisse’s journey into exploring the works of other cultures, beyond Western Europe. After completing this painting, Matisses delved into Persian miniature paintings that are known for their bold colours, flatness and lack of perspective. He once stated “The Persian miniatures showed me the possibility of my sensations. That art had devices to suggest a greater space.” He went on to immerse himself in Islamic arts, and Moorish art, moving away from Western European art’s Focus on creating spaces of form and perspective. The next generation of abstract artists have been visibly influenced by Matisse. The works of Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko—two of the greatest contemporary artists—follow the color-saturated model Matisse has created here. He had a childlike wonder that helped him break loose of traditions. The greatest paintings in the world that we remember today, invoke change; they play with tradition and boundaries and create a new beginning, a path previously unexplored. Matisse made a painting without a central focus and tested out new ideas with space and perspective. He used primary colours and everyday objects to depict a common scene, but kept the viewers stimulated. Although “The Red Room” was made over 110 years ago, it has a particular resonance when I look at it today. Matisse is widely regarded as the greatest colorist of the 20th century. He once wrote that he sought to create art that would be “a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair.” And so he did. Each canvas had potential to be a playing ground and he never stopped. In the last few years of his life, he was bedridden and unable to paint and so he picked up a pair of scissors instead, and began making collages. The most famous ones in existence that we’re all familiar with. That’s why his works have stood the test of time today. Something in his paintings speak to all of us; a sense of adventure, of starting the empty canvas of each new day with a renewed sense of potential.