Artwork Information

Matisse wrote, 'I have often thought that this medium [linocutting] is very similar to the movement of the bow over a violin… The gouge, like the bow, is directly linked to the feelings of the artist. The least distraction during the drawing of a line leads involuntarily to a change of pressure in the fingers which inevitably alters the stroke. Similarly the fingers holding the bow only have to be tightened a little for the sound of the violin to change…'