Golden Leaves on Black

About this work

Broad leaf shapes cut from raised gold leaf lie edge to edge across a deep matte black ground. Their outlines are loose and playful, and a few small cream pieces interrupt the rhythm here and there. The black absorbs the light while the gold returns it, so the leaves seem to glow like a lit window at night.

The picture takes its cue from the paper cut-outs Henri Matisse made in his final years. After major surgery in 1941 he found painting at the easel hard, so he had sheets of paper brushed with gouache and cut into them with scissors, a method he described as drawing with scissors. Leaves, fronds and seaweed-like forms appear again and again in this late work. Golden Leaves on Black is a reimagining in gold, not a copy: the freedom of the cut shapes remains, while the painted paper becomes gold leaf on black.

It is a dramatic piece that still feels calm. Hang it in a dark living room, a home office or a hallway with brass details, ideally on charcoal, deep green or warm grey walls. As part of its set, it sits well between Golden Seaweed and The Golden Tree with Birds, so the black falls between cobalt blue and deep green. At around 9,000 px, the file prints sharply to roughly 76 cm on the long edge at 300 dpi.