THE SNAIL by HENRI MATISSE

THE SNAIL by HENRI MATISSE

(Gouache on paper, cut and pasted, mounted on canvas for support:

2864 x 2870 mm on paper, unique)

The Snail, also known as the L’escargot, by Henri Matisse was made in the year 1953, a year before he died. This work is very large, nearly three meters square. At first sight it appears to be an abstract arrangement of vibrant colored, geometric blocks on a white background. The blocks of color are arranged in a loose spiral suggesting the shape of a snail’s shell. Instead of being painted directly onto canvas, the blocks of color are made from pieces of paper that have been painted in a water based paint called gouache. The brightly painted paper has been torn and cut into uneven shapes and stuck onto a white paper background. The whole composition has then been stuck onto canvas.

It is a remarkably energetic work considering he was eighty four and suffering from poor health. Confined to either his bed or his wheelchair, Matisse was forced to develop an entirely new technique. He would cut and tear directly into colored sheets of paper without making any preliminary drawings. Matisse described this as like ‘drawing straight into color’. Rather than having to build up the color on the canvas as he had throughout his career, Matisse was now taking color as his starting point. He would carve into the colored paper with his scissors to reveal shapes, liberated by the simplicity and directness of his new technique.

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. The spiral is described by the geometric shards of color that lie along its line of movement. The bright pinks, red, blue, greens, oranges and yellow bear no relation to the dusty earth colors of a living snail. Instead Matisse has selected and arranged colors solely to maximize their vibrancy and the overall decorative effect. He does this by boldly exploiting the basic principles of color theory. In color theory there are three types of color that are the basic building blocks; primary, secondary and complementary. The primary colors are red, yellow and blue. They are called primary because you cannot create these colors by mixing other colors. However, different combinations of the three primary colors will create every other color in the spectrum. Secondary colors are a mix of two primary colors and they are green, mauve and orange. Complementary colors are the pairing of a secondary color with the remaining primary, for instance green (a mix of blue and yellow) and red. When complementary colors are placed beside each other they appear stronger and more vibrant. Although color theory sounds simple, it is very complex because colors 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 color 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 colors placed nearby. Matisse’s great skill was in achieving a perfect orchestration between colors so that they sing before our eyes. Like a conductor he also controls the rhythm and pace of the work, which is reflected in the alternative title he gave it ‘Chromatic Composition’.

The choice of colors in The Snail is not random or purely technical. In the same way that the spiral refers to a snail’s shell, the colors 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 colors 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.

In my opinion, Henri Matisse work is more than a representation of a snail, as it may obviously be seen at first. I like the way he used the colors, matched them perfectly with each other. But I love the idea and feeling and image of what these colors had given as an effect. It is not about the piece that speaks a lot about colors, but it is that the artist himself is being represented by the colors that he used. Matisse’s way of self-expression is as influential today as it was in his time. Many modernists like me, look up to him… and use his techniques, ideas and his artworks to inspire our own pieces. I agree to what Casey Klahn has said in her blog: “Matisse’s artistic direction was purely his own; unique and self-directed. A legacy worth more than gold, I’d say.” An ordinary person may dislike this work and say, “Even fourth-graders can do that!”, but of course, they would never understand (unless they are artists, themselves) that these kinds of artworks are genius, in which great artist had put together creativity, imagination, colors, shape, form, lines, self-expression, reality and authenticity of the world and nature—all in one piece.

References:

http://www.tate.org.uk/imap/pages/animated/cutout/matisse/snail.htm. Date retrieved:

February 16, 2009. 2:40PM.