1: Interior with Dog, 1934.
2: "Colour, above all, and perhaps even more than drawing, is a means of liberation.
Liberation is the freeing of conventions, old methods being pushed aside by the contributions of the new generation. As drawing and colour are means of expression, they are modified.
Hence the strangeness of new means of expression, because they refer to other matters than those which interested preceding generations." (Matisse on Art, pg. 100)
It's a longer quotation near the end of the short passage we read for class, but it's something that deeply moved me. How much Matisse enjoys color enough to say that it is liberation, a way of breaking the mold and pushing the boundaries of old rules laid out for art by people before him, and a realization that you can truly do whatever you want that expresses you, specifically.
What this makes me think of is something difficult to answer, because quite honestly the only thing I can muster is the fact that color is almost starting to be bled out of things now. Minimalism, while I like it, is a little infectious and is draining homes out of fun colors, furniture out of tacky patterns, and neighborhoods out of its lovely chance of individuality. Maybe when I was younger and in my anti-color phase in middle school, I would disagree with Matisse, but now I find myself knowing a kindred spirit through his writing. Color is freeing, an expression of ones self and their emotions, their desires, their personality. It's fun and beautiful to see when people color their hair or wear brash and impactful colors.
This relates to the theme of our classroom discussion very obviously, as it's the subject we're learning about right now. There's something that hits different about reading Matisse and his sincere passion about color though, and I'm tickled pink by it. Not that it wasn't interesting in class - I definitely am happy to learn more about color and color theory, and the way you can use it to create an impact or express something! This is just so genuinely nice to read.
I think that, despite color being bled out of the world sometimes, that it is also making a comeback because of the newer generation coming our way. I welcome that with open arms and I hope that it paves the way to the future because while I love neutrals and monochromatic schemes, I just love color.