Nothing in this soft green and warm red still life whispers, even when the living room does. It’s a Matisse from 1906 loose brushwork, a round vase, a tangle of garden flowers in red, mustard and ochre against dusty green and mauve.

Hang it and a quiet wall stops feeling polite. The colour is warm but never shouty, so the room gains energy without tipping into busy. Painterly brushwork reads as relaxed, not formal.

It works best above a sofa, a sideboard or a writing desk, at eye level on a feature wall. Side-light from a window or a low lamp brings out the layered greens and the dusty pinks in the background.

Pairs well with linen and velvet, oak or walnut, brass lamps and stoneware. Plaster or warm off-white walls flatter it best.

What to avoid: a wall already crowded with other strong florals let this one carry the colour. The painterly surface reads especially well on canvas, where the texture sits flush with the brushwor