Marc Chagall

Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (acquired directly from the artist on March 12, 1929)
Alfred Bernheim, Paris (acquired from the above on June 22, 1929)
Private Collection, Rouen
Galerie Marcel Bernheim (Yves Heman), Paris
Acquired from the above in 1977 and thence by descent

Stockholm, Moderna Museet, Marc Chagall, 1982, no. 43

Franz Meyer, Marc Chagall, Life and Work, New York, 1963, no. 505, illustrated n.p.

Executed on cream colored wove paper, not laid down, affixed to a mount at several places on the perimeter on verso. Edges are deckled. Some undulation to the sheet at the upper left corner. One-inch repaired vertical tear extending from center of top edge and a few tiny nicks and scuffs to the extreme perimeter. Medium is well preserved and very rich, the colors are bright and fresh. Sheet may be slightly time darkened, otherwise fine. This work is in very good condition.
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.

Le Mouton was executed during Chagall’s second period in France, where he returned in 1923 and stayed until his move to the United States during the Second World War. During Chagall’s years in France, his subjects were divided between those inspired by his adopted country and those reminiscent of his native Russia, with the two often combined in his phantasmagorical compositions. During this era he produced some of the most personally meaningful compositions of his career, developing the symbolism and imagery to which he would repeatedly return over the next five decades. Indeed, when Le Mouton was executed, Chagall had only recently returned from his eight-year exile in Vitebsk; he had planned his visit to Vitebsk in 1914 to be brief, but political circumstances prohibited him to return to Paris for several years. In June 1914 Chagall traveled to Berlin to attend the opening of his first one-man show consisting of 40 oils and 160 gouaches at Herwarth Walden's Galerie der Sturm. On June 15 he returned to Vitebsk to attend his sister's wedding. It had been his intention to stay for three months before returning to Paris, but the outbreak of World War I made this impossible and he remained in Russia for the next eight years. After the excitement of Paris and Berlin, the provincial atmosphere of Vitebsk depressed him at first, but he soon found that the rich cultural and religious life of his birthplace offered a remarkable range of subject matter for him to explore.

This work makes rich use of these motifs. The background, with wooden izba huts and a domed Orthodox church, clearly establishes the setting as his native Russia. The central figure, depicted so close to the edge of the plane that he appears to rush past the viewer, comes across as a personification of travel, and it is tempting to draw comparisons between the story of Exodus and Chagall’s own journey from Russia to France. Chagall adds a signature note of surreality to the composition by placing a hybridized figure of a human and a rooster at lower left. It was during the 1920s that the artist established the rooster or “coq” as his personal animal avatar, and the creature would come to dominate his oeuvre until the end of his career (see fig. 1). The chimera seen here would evolve into a two-faced rooster and ultimately the bright red character seen centrally in so many compositions, indicating the presence of the artists within his own dreams, fantasies and recollections.

Signed to the Bernheim-Jeune gallery the year prior to producing the present lot, Chagall was finally enjoying long-awaited wide critical renown and commercial success in this period of his life. His production was further stimulated by commissions from Ambroise Vollard, such as his Fables de la Fontaine and circus series, many of which were also executed in gouache. This work stands out as an important example of Chagall’s ability to skillfully manipulate the medium with the sheet, saturated by a range of color tones, drawn together by vibrant highlights, most notably in the flesh of the freshly shorn lamb, the chicken’s feathers and the church dome. When one considers that these years in Paris would be later remembered by Chagall as the happiest in his life, the sheet appears infused with a lightness and joy, underscored by the lamb’s unmistakable smile.