Rahul Sharma (Editor)

The Snail

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Year
  
1953

Location
  
Tate Gallery, London

Dimensions
  
2.87 m x 2.88 m

Genre
  
Abstract art

Supports
  
Paper, Canvas

Type
  
Gouache on paper

Artist
  
Henri Matisse

Created
  
1952–1953

Media
  
Paper, Gouache

The Snail httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen77dMat

Similar
  
Henri Matisse artwork, Gouache

The Snail (L'escargot) is a collage by Henri Matisse.

The work was created from summer 1952 to early 1953. It is pigmented with gouache on paper, cut and pasted onto a base layer of white paper measuring 9'434" × 9' 5" (287 × 288 cm). The piece is in the Tate Modern collection in London.

It consists of a number of colored shapes arranged in a spiral pattern, as suggested by the title. Matisse first drew the snail, then used the colored paper to interpret it. The composition pairs complementary colors: Matisse gave the work the alternative title La Composition Chromatique (chromatic composition). From the early-to-mid-1940s Matisse was in increasingly poor health, and was suffering from arthritis. Eventually by 1950 he stopped painting in favor of gouaches découpées, paper cutouts. The Snail is a major example of this final body of works.

References

The Snail Wikipedia