Marc Chagall

Estate of the artist 
Sale : Sotheby’s, Tel Aviv, 30th May 1989, lot 37
Acquired at the above sale

Executed on textured white card, laid down on masonite board by the artist, taped to the overmount such that the edges of the card are not visible. The board is sound and the card appears to be intact. There is a small spot of abrasion on the figure's cheek, inherent to the artist's process. There are some media marks on the reverse of the board. Overall the colours are fresh and this work is in excellent original condition.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Most of the emblematic themes of Chagall’s dreamlike universe are present in this painting, from the pair of lovers, the artist in front of his easel, to the bouquet of flowers. From the very start of his career, Chagall represented himself frequently as an artist working on his painting. As an autobiographical figure and an incarnation of the creator, Chagall celebrates the figure of the artist, capable of creating life from the realm of dreams and imagination.

Flowers appeared very early in Chagall’s work, while he was still in Russia. Symbolising both traditional Jewish decorative motif and a “metaphor of pleasure” according to André Breton, they became more and more prominent in his paintings as his career progressed. “It was in Toulon in 1924 that [Chagall] was stunned by the charm of French flowers for the first time. He claimed that he never saw bouquets in Russia, or at least that they weren't as frequent as in France… He stated that when he paints a bouquet, it’s as if he has painted a landscape. That’s what France is to him. Flowers, and especially bouquets of mixed flowers, which offer an infinite variety of delicate colours and rich contrasts of textures which captured Chagall’s attention” (James Johnson Sweeney, Marc Chagall, New York, 1946, p. 56).

This theme grew in prominence throughout his life, eventually becoming the central motif in some of his late paintings. Executed in 1981, the present artwork is characteristic of this final creative period, when the artist moved to the South of France. “Flowers also have their own language, one of love and heavenly hymns: " 'All I had to do is open my room’s window’ recounted Chagall during his engagement, ‘and the blue air, the love and the flowers would flow into the room'. Always and everywhere, ever since his beginnings in Russia, he painted flowers, an incarnation of colour and messengers of love. […] Mediators of landscapes, standing on the windowsill – another recurrent subject – between the close and far space, they finish by becoming landscape itself and unite with the lovers and flying characters, they fill up the space with the bright fragrances and soft emotions that they create. […] Chagall’s creation aesthetically rests upon what he calls the alchemy of colours, on the magical gift to animate material and make it into light” (Jean Leymarie, Marc Chagall, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Grand Palais, 1969, p. 10).