ticketsMember | Make a donation

Snow Flowers

1951
Not on view
During the last decade of his long life, Henri Matisse produced some 270 paper cutouts. Although they constitute independent works, many also served as maquettes for projects as different in scale and purpose as book illustrations or designs for liturgical vestments and stained-glass windows. During the 1930s, Matisse had already used paper models to help him compose his paintings. Then, after two serious operations in 1941 left him in poor health, the artist worked more and more with paper cutouts—something he could do sitting up in bed or in an armchair. With scissors, Matisse cut shapes from sheets of paper that his assistants first had colored with gouache. These would be pinned into position and, once finalized, glued onto a white or multicolored ground. After the late 1940s, when the size of these cutouts increased so much that they had to be executed on the wall, he would direct his assistants as to the specific placement of the shapes and they would carry out his vision.

By 1951, the artist had stopped painting and devoted himself exclusively to making large-scale paper cutouts and drawings. Later compositions, such as this one, focused on larger, bolder, and more simplified shapes. Here, the abstracted "snow flowers" are a mixture of white plant and petal forms, placed against a patchwork of bold color. Although they appear to be wholly imaginary, one small plant growing up from the bottom center edge suggests that Matisse's title and his shapes were inspired by the snowdrop, a small frosty-white, bell-shaped flower that blooms in early spring.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Snow Flowers
  • Artist: Henri Matisse (French, Le Cateau-Cambrésis 1869–1954 Nice)
  • Date: 1951
  • Medium: Watercolor and gouache on cut and pasted papers
  • Dimensions: 68 1/2 x 31 3/4 in. (174 x 80.6 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, 1998
  • Object Number: 1999.363.46
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Landscape, Nice, Henri Matisse French, Oil on canvas board
Landscape, Nice
Henri Matisse
1919
Ulysses, Henri Matisse French
Ulysses
Multiple artists/makers
1935
Gravures originales sur le thème de Pasiphaé Pour le texte de H. de Montherlant
Multiple artists/makers
1981
Nono Lebasque, Henri Matisse French, Oil on canvas
Nono Lebasque
Henri Matisse
1907
Reclining Odalisque, Henri Matisse French, Oil on canvas
Reclining Odalisque
Henri Matisse
1926

Related Content

Timeline of Art History

Entries from The Met's art encyclopedia.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.