Henri Matisse, The Snail, 1953
Gouache on paper, cut and pasted on canvas support. © Succession H. Matisse/DACS 2002. Purchased with assistance from the Friends of the Tate Gallery 1962.
Text Version
The text only version is intended to be used in conjunction with i-Map's raised drawings. Click here to download the drawings.
Orientation
This work is very large, approximately nine and a half feet square.
At first sight it appears to be an abstract arrangement of vibrant coloured,
geometric blocks on a white background. The blocks of colour are arranged in a
loose spiral suggesting the shape of a snail's shell. Instead of being painted
directly onto canvas, the blocks of colour are made from pieces of paper that
have been painted in a water based paint called gouache. The brightly painted
paper has then been torn and cut into uneven shapes and stuck onto a white paper
background. The whole composition has then been stuck onto canvas.
End of Orientation
The Snail was made in 1953, a year before Matisse died. It is a work full of energy and movement, which is remarkable considering Matisse was eighty four and restricted to working from a bed or a wheelchair due to ill health. Unable to stand at an easel, Matisse developed an entirely new way of creating art known as cut outs. Although related to the Cubist technique of collage, the cut outs are different because he created the painted paper himself, rather than using existing materials. He would cut and tear directly into paper without making preliminary drawings, describing the technique as 'drawing straight into colour'. The sweeping line made by the scissors took on the role of the brushstroke, but instead of having to build up colour on the canvas like a traditional painter, Matisse could carve into it, almost like a sculptor carving into material to reveal a form. It was a very liberating process and Matisse loved its simplicity and directness. He had first used cut out paper in 1931 when he was designing a large mural for the Barnes Foundation. Then he used paper templates to help him work out his composition on a huge scale before painting it onto canvas. He returned to the technique in the forties and early fifties, only this time the cut outs were the artwork.
Matisse's secretary saw The Snail being made and this is how she described the process. 'Matisse always had at his disposal sheets of paper painted in gouache by assistants, in all the colours he used. A background of white paper - of the dimensions indicated by H.M. - was put on the wall and the assistant pinned onto it the pieces of gouached paper which H.M. passed to him, indicating exactly where they should be placed.
When H.M. decided that his composition was finished, it was lightly stuck to the background. The panel was taken down when H.M. needed the wall for a further work. When later on it was sent to be pasted down, before anything was moved, an extremely precise tracing was made to ensure that no changes were made in the composition, not even by so much as a millimetre.'
Matisse has made no attempt to disguise the various stages of his creative process. For instance, in some places the paint is smudged where Matisse handled the paper before it was completely dry. Then the edges of the pieces of paper have different textures. Those that were cut with scissors are sharp with small nicks where the scissors changed direction, while other pieces that were torn have rougher, softer edges. Also, the corners of each coloured block have a small hole left by the pin that held it in place while Matisse was arranging the composition.
Surrounding the spiral of colours that represents the Snail's shell is a frame, made from irregular pieces of orange paper. Every piece has one straight side that is probably the edge of the original sheet from which it was cut. These straight edges are aligned to the edge of the canvas making the outside edge of the frame neat and regular. However, the interior edge of the frame is ragged where chunks have been cut out of the paper to make other shapes. Different sections of the frame jut into the white background at irregular angles since adjoining pieces are of different widths. It is also apparent that at least two sheets of orange paper were used to make the frame because the pieces are slightly different colours. The paint used on one sheet was mixed with less water, so the colour is more intense and even. The paint mixed for the other sheet is more watery so the colour is paler and the marks of paintbrush are noticeable. So we can see the process of both creating the coloured paper and of arranging the pieces. The overall effect of the frame with its citrus orange and choppy shapes is to enhance the syncopated rhythm of the work.
Although at first sight The Snail looks entirely abstract, Matisse's art was always based on observation of the world around him. The spiral is an essential form in nature, found in such things as plant structures, sea shells and pine cones. Although the snail is a humble animal, its shell represents a pattern of universal movement. Matisse said, 'I first of all drew the snail from nature, holding it. I became aware of an unrolling, I found an image in my mind purified of the shell. Then I took the scissors'.
The spiral is described by the geometric shards of colour that lie along its line of movement. The bright pinks, red, blue, greens, oranges and yellow bear no relation to the dusty earth colours of a living snail. Instead Matisse has selected and arranged colours solely to maximise their vibrancy and the overall decorative effect. He does this by boldly exploiting the basic principles of colour theory.
In colour theory there are three types of colour that are the basic building blocks; primary, secondary and complementary. The primary colours are red, yellow and blue. They are called primary because you cannot create these colours by mixing other colours. However, different combinations of the three primary colours will create every other colour in the spectrum. Secondary colours are a mix of two primary colours and they are green, mauve and orange. Complementary colours are the pairing of a secondary colour with the remaining primary, for instance green (a mix of blue and yellow) and red. When complementary colours are placed beside each other they appear stronger and more vibrant.
Although colour theory sounds simple, it is very complex because colours are infinitely varied. In the same way that the word 'apple' covers hundreds of different varieties of the fruit, all of which have slightly different tastes, smells and textures, the term 'red' describes a colour that varies hugely in intensity, shade and hue. To complicate matters still further, our perception of each variation of red is also affected by the colours placed nearby. Matisse's great skill was in achieving a perfect orchestration between colours so that they sing before our eyes. Like a conductor he also controls the rhythm and pace of the work. So, despite its hot, bold colours and spiral shape, The Snail is prevented from becoming hectic and running out of control by the use of a single block of black at the top of the painting and the white background. Black and white are non-colours. The black acts like a brake and allows the eye to rest on its journey around the spiral, while the white background opens up space between and behind the colours, allowing them to breathe. Matisse's meticulous choice and arrangement of colour in The Snail is reflected in the alternative title he gave it - 'Chromatic Composition'.
The choice of colours in The Snail is not random or purely technical. In the same way that the spiral refers to a snail's shell, the colours are a response to the landscape of the Mediterranean where Matisse lived and worked. The citrus oranges and yellow, brilliant blue, hot reds and pinks and lush greens, reflect the intense heat and light of the South of France, its sun, sea, sky and vibrant colours of the land. The Snail is therefore not an accurate representation of the natural world, but a meditation on the pleasure and harmony that can be found in nature.