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 leaf 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—including this one—bear English watermarks.
- Title: Letter Decorated with a Snail on a Leaf
- Creator: Édouard Manet
- Date Created: 1880
- Location Created: France
- Physical Dimensions: 15.8 × 11.7 cm (6 1/4 × 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: Édouard Manet (French, 1832 - 1883)
- Classification: Drawings (Visual Works)
DecorArts is a professional wall art company located in California.
Each of our prints is proudly designed and constructed in the USA, right in our workshop. We are dedicated to delivering the finest quality, craftsmanship, and customer service with each and every order. With giclée printing technology, we are able to provide the best possible quality for the reproduction of fine art masterpieces as well as your personal photos. Our prints capture the subtlest of colors and contrasts, while retaining superb image sharpness.
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Giclée Quality Guarantee:
Giclée printing is meant to produce a product at a higher quality and longer lifespan than a standard desktop inkjet printer. The word was used to describe digital reproductions of conventional artworks (painting or drawing) or photographs.
There are at least three basic criteria which must be met in order for the print to be considered a true giclée...
- For giclée printing, the paper or substrate used to actually print the final piece must be acid free and consist of a 100% cotton base.
- Any image that is to be printed as a giclée needs to be created at a resolution of no less than 300 dots per inch (DPI). This is to ensure that the final print has the sharpest detail and lacks any of the fragmentation that can occur with images less than 300 DPI.
- The last step to creating or confirming a true giclée print is the type of ink and printer used. The biggest contrast between a standard inkjet print and a giclée print is that giclées are printed using pigment-based inks rather than the dye-based inks found in lower cost inkjets. Pigment-based inks have a longer life span that can last anywhere from 100 to 200 years without significant fading.
The Quality :
The quality of the giclée print rivals traditional silver halide and gelatin printing processes and is commonly found in museums, art galleries, and photographic galleries.
With Giclée printing technology, we are able to provide the best possible quality for the reproduction of fine art masterpieces as well as your personal photos. Our prints capture the subtlest of colors and contrasts, while retaining superb image sharpness.
- We use real wood (non-MDF) for our canvas stretcher bars
- The canvas depth of of each dimension will be 1.5" thick
All of our canvas prints are gallery wrapped. Your image will be visible in full on the front side of the canvas while the outer edges are either artistically extended or mirrored to wrap over the wood stretcher bars on all sides. Our canvases are hand-stretched over solid wood stretcher bars.
Our canvas art works arrive ready to hang right out the box! We will affix a sturdy sawtooth hanger to the back of your canvas and include in your package: two screws, two nails, a pair of gloves, and a gradienter (small water level to ensure art is hung straight).
Framed:
Our framed arts are specially designed for both classic art and personalized artwork. Choose from a variety of frames for the perfect one to suit the style of your home.
- Mounted on back flannel so as not to scuff your walls
- Artwork arrives READY TO HANG. Hanging accessories come complimentary
Our frames are specifically chosen to complement each artwork. However, we will gladly accommodate if you'd prefer a different frame. Contact us at customerservice@decorarts.com for inquiries.
