Marc Chagall

James Vigeveno, Los Angeles
Mrs. Fini Getty, Beverly Hills (acquired from the above circa 1950 and thence by descent)

Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Museum of Art (on loan from 1997)

Very good condition. Board is stable. Surface is slightly dirty in places but has retained a rich impasto. Isolated areas of thin cracking in the red blossoms. Under UV light numerous areas of dark green pigment fluoresce in the bouquet which may be original. There do not appear to be any significant restorations.
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In this dreamy painting, a pair of lovers’ heads float above a vase of flowers, whose petals and leaves burst with lively color. In parts, Chagall has thickly pasted on his paint in expressive bursts his much-celebrated vibrancy, which sings in the ultramarine table and rich, pink roses. Elsewhere, to achieve the harmony and balance he sought in his work, Chagall resorts to sketchiness; the outline of the green chair is nothing more than a faint semblance of a solid object, and Chagall gives no clue as to what may lie in the world behind the table, other than an endless sky of mottled pastels. It is this otherworldly space that the lovers inhabit, nestling closely above a scene that speaks of vitality and abundance. Executed by 1930, this painting was created amidst a cultural climate of growing anti-Semitism and fascism in Europe; shortly, Chagall’s paintings would become far darker both in palette and temperament, afforded by his tendency to depict more dramatic Biblical narratives following a trip to Palestine in 1931. This painting, free of the harshness and menace that can be felt in the works that were to come, is a charming example of Chagall’s valuation of human warmth and affection.

Mrs. Fini Getty was married to J. Paul Getty between 1928 and 1932.