MARC CHAGALL | Conversation dans le pré

Estate of the artist
Acquired from the above

Executed on buff colored wove paper that has been mounted to canvas. There are three half-inch repaired tears and one quarter-inch repaired tear along the bottom edge. There is a nailhead sized area of skinning to the sheet along the bottom edge. There is one half-inch repaired tear and one quarter-inch repaired tear to the left edge of the sheet. There is some minor hairline craquelure to the blue pigments of the sky of the upper register, and a few associated losses, potential due to frame abrasion, along the top edge. A light two-inch surface scratch in the upper right quadrant. Under UV inspection, there are areas of retouching in the upper left corner, along the right half of the top edge, the top half of the right edge, and a few other places along the edges. The work is in good condition.
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Conversation dans le pré is a profoundly emotive and poignant illustration of Marc Chagall’s meditative imagery. The artist communicated his psychology through powerful recurring motifs, and such themes manifest the framework of the composition. At once haunting and beguiling, nostalgia fills the present work and lends to its engaging charm. The couple suggests Chagall himself and his beloved wife Bella, whose death in 1944 had a profound effect on the artist. Chagall depicts his hometown of Vitebsk with its shtetls and rural character which continually served as a source of inspiration for the artist, who referred to it as “the soil that nourished the roots of my art” (quoted in Jacob Baal-Teshuva, Marc Chagall: 1887-1985, New York, 1998, p. 19). Even though the artist would never return to his hometown, Vitebsk remained vivid in his mind following his departure for Paris in 1922, and became intrinsically bound to Chagall’s memories of his youth.

Images of Vitebsk took on a new significance to the artist in his work of the post-war years, as evidenced in this work from 1955, after his beloved hometown was effectively destroyed during the German invasion. Chagall's memories of his distant past, the vanished way of life of his homeland and his loss of identity continued to provide artistic inspiration for the rest of his life, emerging in dream-like, magical scenes. Together, the highly emotive and deeply personal iconography of his most fond subjects are harmoniously combined in the present work.

The authenticity of this work has kindly been confirmed by the Comité Chagall.