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Henri Matisse The Snail 1953
Henri Matisse
The Snail 1953
© Succession H Matisse/DACS 2002
Gouache on paper, cut out and pasted on paper mounted on canvas
2864 x 2870
The Snail 1953
© Succession H Matisse/DACS 2002
Gouache on paper, cut out and pasted on paper mounted on canvas
2864 x 2870
Read transcriptThe Snail was made by the Matisse at the height of his skill with cut-outs, or 'drawings made with scissors'. Bed-ridden due to illness, the artist cut out shapes of paper - which had been pre-coloured with gouache - using large shears, and directed his assistants to pin them onto large sheets of white paper attached to the wall of the studio. When the composition was complete, the gouache was properly adhered onto a stretched support. Matisse was careful to select light-resistant pigments and good-quality materials in the construction of his collages, which partly accounts for the good condition the collage is in today.
Rosie Freemantle is a Paper Conservator at Tate, responsible for Loans of works on paper, and for Tate Modern Displays and Exhibitions. She has a particular interest in the conservation of C20th and contemporary works on paper, including collages and other works which combine paper with other materials.
Detail one: Linel Gouaches Colour Chart (detail)
Matisse used this brand of gouaches exclusively to colour papers for collages such as The Snail
Detail two:
Canson & Montgolfier watermark (detail) from papers used in The Snail
Detail three:
Taking colour measurements of gouaches on The Snail using a Minolta Chromameter CR-221