“The Red Studio” wasn’t always red. That was the hypothesis that kicked off a two-year analysis of one of Henri Matisse’s most radical paintings. The current exhibition Matisse: The Red Studio offered a rare opportunity to take the iconic MoMA work off view and into the conservation lab for an extensive examination. Senior Paintings Conservator Anny Aviram has worked at MoMA for decades, but had never seen the painting without its frame. That simple change was the first clue that led to a series of new discoveries about Matisse’s process. Using various imaging techniques and a microscopic sample, Anny, along with Paintings Conservator Michael Duffy, David Booth Fellow in Paintings Conservation Caroline Hoover, and Assistant Conservation Scientist Abed Haddad peeled back the painting’s layers to reveal what’s underneath the Venetian red. Then, following Matisse’s brushstrokes—and the bristles he left behind—they saw the way, as Anny says, “he went for the red in almost one shot.”

Foto di Shuto Araki