Marc Chagall

Galerie Maeght, Paris

Acquired by the family of the present owners on May 4, 1966

Original canvas. The canvas has a beautiful, dry surface and has never been retouched. This work is in excellent condition.
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Throughout his career, Marc Chagall consistently turned to flower painting not as rigorous studies in realism, but rather as expressive evocations of fantasy in their conflation of still-life, narrative motifs, and landscape.  Like Henri Matisse, Chagall resided in Saint-Paul-de Vence from 1950-1973 and sought to capture the splendor and luminosity of this Côte d'Azur town by experimenting with bold colors and unstructured compositions. According to Chagall's biographer Franz Meyer, "The light, the vegetation, the rhythm of life all contributed to the rise of a more relaxed airy, sensuous style in which the magic of colour dominates more and more with the passing years.  At Vence he witnessed the daily miracle of growth and blossoming in the mild, strong all-pervading light - an experience in which earth and matter had their place" (Franz Meyer, Marc Chagall, London, 1964, p. 519). 

 

By this point in his life, Chagall enjoyed much international success and recognition and was living in the hilly countryside of Saint-Paul-de Vence with his wife Vava.  Le bouquet des amoureux sur fond bleu represents the artist's tranquil disposition and the beauty that he found in his surroundings and offers insight into his personal history.  The flowers of the bouquet are magnificently oversized compared with the figures, which conveys to the viewer a sense of abundance and whimsy, while the thickly painted electric red, pink, and yellow of the petals gives the work a brilliant energy.