Artists & Illustrators - UK (2019-11)

82 Artists&Illustrators

HENRI MATISSE

The Snail, 1952-’53

Wheelchair-boundinlater

life,the Frenchmaster

foundanewwaytowork.

RACHAELFUNNELLlooks

athisuniquetechniqueof

“drawingwithscissors”

ART IN FOCUS

WHO WAS HENRI MATISSE?

Born on New Year’s Eve 1869, this French

artist is best remembered for figurative

paintings such as The Dance. In 1941,

however, he was diagnosed with cancer

and wheelchair-bound as a result.

Longing for une second vie – “a second

life” – in those later years, he embarked on a

new art medium: creating cut-paper collages

in a practice he called “drawing with

scissors”. “To cut to the quick in colour,”

he said, “reminds me of the direct cutting

of sculptors.”

WHAT IS THIS COLLAGE ABOUT?

The Snail (or L’Escargot) was completed a

year before Matisse’s death and the original

measures three metres square.

The name comes from the spiralling

composition – according to his daughter

Marguerite, her father had grown fascinated

with the concentric pattern of snail shells

and made many drawings of them.

Matisse gave his collage a second name,

La Composition Chromatique or “The

Chromatic Composition” – believed to be

a reference to the way he chose the hues.

HOW WAS IT MADE?

A large white piece of paper cut to Matisse’s

specified dimensions was hung on a wall in

the Hôtel Régina at Nice.

Using scissors, the artist cut pieces of

paper which had been coloured with gouache

paint and directed his studio assistants as

to where they should be placed. Once the

composition was finalised, the cut paper was

lightly fixed to the surface and sent to Paris

to be permanently pasted down. Prior to this,

a precise tracing was made to ensure that

the final pasted version perfectly matched

his original image.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

The Snail is a highlight of the collages

Matisse carved during the final decade of his

career. Known as The Cut-Outs, the series

indicated a significant departure from his

previous works. Initially dismissed as childish,

they became a precursor to the bold colours

of the 1960s and graphic art, and became

some of his most admired pieces.

WHAT DID MATISSE SAY?

“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.” (As quoted by

his assistant, Lydia Delectorskaya, in a letter

to the Tate dated 30 March 1976).

Matisse: Drawing with Scissors runs from

25 October to 15 March 2020 at the Lady Lever

Art Gallery, Wirral. http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

HENRI MATISSE,

L’ESCARGOT (THE SNAIL)

, 1952-’53, LITHOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTION (1958), 46.7X57.7CM. © SUCCESSION H. MATISSE/ DACS 2019