Supercharged painting summer session July 18 and 20

The sweet joys of Summer!

These two Matisse paintings are a perfect inspiration for the best time of year. The

paler one on the left was painted in 1909 and was considered by the artist to be one of his most exceptional works; a luminous and pure work of high-art and is hanging in New York at MOMA. The second was painted in 1910 for a Russian collector and is viseral with bolder color and a brilliant and earthy energy; it is hanging in the Hermitage in Russia. Which do you prefer? My favorite Matisse is a dead-heat between his "Violinist at a Window" and his spare and minimal "View of Notre Dame",both from 1913, i believe. But these two are such great high-summer ideas! Try a painting that connects with the spirit of July, the sky, a high grassy hill and the eternal now. See you next week. john.