Letter Decorated with a Snail on a Leaf

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With its piquant design of fresh greens and yellows applied over delicate gray wash, this illustrated letter exemplifies Manet's late watercolor practice. The snail perched on a le af offers a laconic metaphor for the artist's situation in the summer of 1880, when he found himself more or less trapped in his Bellevue garden by a paralyzed leg that slowed his movements to a snail's pace. A horizontal crease through the middle of this sheet confirms that it was folded to fit in an envelope and sent ( snail mail ) to an unnamed female friend. Although the identity of the letter's fair recipient remains uncertain, Manet's instruction not to ¡°forget the ream of English paper is clear enough. His new interest in watercolor necessitated a continuous supply of paper, often brought by visitors from Paris. For the artist and his contemporaries, watercolor was a quintessentially English medium; he used an English-made watercolor set, and many of his illustrated letters¡ªincluding this one¡ªbear English watermarks. Title Letter Decorated with a Snail on a Leaf Creator ¨¦douard Manet Date Created 1880 Location Created France Physical Dimensions 15.8 ¡Á 11.7 cm (6 1/4 ¡Á 4 5/8 in.) Type Drawing Medium Watercolor over gray wash (design); pen and ink (text) on machine-made laid paper Terms of Use Open Content Number 2019.7 Culture French Credit Line The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles Creator Display Name ¨¦douard Manet (French, 1832 - 1883) Classification Drawings (Visual Works) Show more