Marc Chagall

Mme Nell Walden, Berlin

W. Wetterer, Stuttgart (1958)

E. W. Kornfeld, Berne

Hugo Obermeier, Munich

Sale: Sotheby's, London, December 5, 1984, lot 323

Private Collection, United Kingdom

Acquired by the present owner in 1994

Zurich, Kunsthaus, Marc Chagall, Retrospective, 1950-51, no. 78

Berne, Klipstein and Kornfield, Marc Chagall, Gouachen, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, 1911 bis 1959, Lithographien 1956 bis 1960, 1960, no. 4

Mexico City, Fundacion Cultural Telvisa, Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo, Chagall en Nuestro Siglo, 1991-92, no. 80

Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Marc Chagall - Les Années Russes, 1907-1922, 1995, no. 57, illustrated in color pl. 79

Charles Estienne, Chagall, Paris, 1951, illustrated pl. 5

Franz Meyer, Marc Chagall, Life and Work, New York, 1963, no. 89, illustrated p. 628

Werner Haftmann, Marc Chagall: Gouachen, Zeichnungen, Aquarelle, Cologne, 1975, no. 7, illustrated p. 45

Good condition. Medium is fresh and bright. Executed on brown paper, laid down on paper, which is lifting in lower left corner. There are two pinholes, one in upper right corner and one in upper left corner. At lower right corner, signature, date, and inscription are visible under the gouache. Backing is hinged to the mount. Some minor losses to the pigment in the upper left quadrant. Small loss to the paper, approximately 1 ½ cm, on upper left edge. Some tiny losses to the planter in lower left.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Painted in 1911 while he arrived in Paris, Chagall's rendering of a nude model encapsulates the spirit and and lyricism that defined his art at the time.  The sinuous pose of this figure appeared periodically throughout the artist's oeuvre, especially in murals and set designs that he did for the ballet, but was most important in the compositions of 1911, the year he moved from St. Petersburg to Paris.  

After having spent his formative years in Russia away from the influence of the Western avant-garde, Chagall was overwhelmed by what he encountered while living in the French capital.  "I found myself in the midst of contemporary European artists," he later recalled. "At the Louvre I was captivated by Manet's Olympia, and by Courbet and Delacroix, and I came to understand what Russian art was, and the West.  I was captivated by the moderation and taste of French art" (quoted in Marc Chagall (exhibition catalogue), San Francisco Museum of Art, 2003, p. 27).  He was particularly impressed by the "wild" aesthetic of the Fauves, most notably, Matisse, who had painted his famous ensemble of dancers for the Moscovite collector Shchukin in 1909-10.  Chagall was mindful of Matisse and the influences of French art when he completed the present work in 1911, but he was also considering the significance of this character with regard to his own Russian heritage.  When Chagall moved to France in 1911, the Russian Ballet was also coming to prominence at the Paris Opera.  The artist had designed sets for Serge Diaghilev's ballet the year before, and his own arrival in Paris was confirmation that Russian artists were finally establishing their place amongst the European avant-garde.  This gouache, completed with a Fauvist-inspired stylization, is a nod to this cultural cross-over.