.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The Comité Marc Chagall has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
As a young art student, Chagall would have his first direct experience with the theatre under the tutelage of Leon Bakst in St. Petersburg in 1910, designing the set for the ballet, Narcisse et Echo. Bakst was an influential figure in the artist's early career and instilled in him a lifelong interest in the theatre that would lead him to yet another life-long muse in the work of the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. Aleksandr Kamensky observes of the connection between the two artists: "Gogol was the Russian writer to whom Chagall felt closest. Like the painter, Gogol continually employed paradox, metaphor and the fantastic in his attempts to reveal the essence of Russian life" (Chagall, The Russian Years 1907-1922, Paris, 1988, p. 314). Chagall would revisit Gogol throughout his career, most significantly in 1925 when he collaborated for the first time with publisher Ambroise Vollard to complete a series of etchings for an edition of Gogol's Dead Souls.
The present work relates to a series of studies Chagall completed in 1919 when he was commissioned to design the scenery for two productions by Gogol, The Card Players and Marriage at the Hermitage Theatre in St. Petersburg. Originally written in 1843, The Card Players (or Les Jouers) follows the main character, a card-shark named Ikharev, through a whirlwind of deception as he tries to outwit a group of gamblers of their money with a new trick he has perfected. The story quickly unfolds to expose that it is in fact Ikharev who has been swindled. The present work appears to portray the moment of realization when Ikharev sees that the tables have been turned and in response Chagall has literally turned Ikharev against himself by separating his head to face his body. Kaminsky has said: "the depiction of a head upside down or detached from the body is typical of Chagall, symbolizing strangeness and the paradoxical nature of life" (ibid., p. 320). The jagged blue shapes outlining the background only heighten the juxtaposition of the scene. This bright color palette is also seen in two related works resulting from the same commission, Esquisse de décor pour "Les joueurs" (Meyer 294; Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and Hommage à Gogol (Fig. 1; Meyer 291; The Museum of Modern Art, New York).
Though the productions of these plays would not be seen through to fruition by the Hermitage Theatre, the present work and the related studies perfectly capture the working relationship between the artist and his writer-muse.
As a young art student, Chagall would have his first direct experience with the theatre under the tutelage of Leon Bakst in St. Petersburg in 1910, designing the set for the ballet, Narcisse et Echo. Bakst was an influential figure in the artist's early career and instilled in him a lifelong interest in the theatre that would lead him to yet another life-long muse in the work of the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. Aleksandr Kamensky observes of the connection between the two artists: "Gogol was the Russian writer to whom Chagall felt closest. Like the painter, Gogol continually employed paradox, metaphor and the fantastic in his attempts to reveal the essence of Russian life" (Chagall, The Russian Years 1907-1922, Paris, 1988, p. 314). Chagall would revisit Gogol throughout his career, most significantly in 1925 when he collaborated for the first time with publisher Ambroise Vollard to complete a series of etchings for an edition of Gogol's Dead Souls.
The present work relates to a series of studies Chagall completed in 1919 when he was commissioned to design the scenery for two productions by Gogol, The Card Players and Marriage at the Hermitage Theatre in St. Petersburg. Originally written in 1843, The Card Players (or Les Jouers) follows the main character, a card-shark named Ikharev, through a whirlwind of deception as he tries to outwit a group of gamblers of their money with a new trick he has perfected. The story quickly unfolds to expose that it is in fact Ikharev who has been swindled. The present work appears to portray the moment of realization when Ikharev sees that the tables have been turned and in response Chagall has literally turned Ikharev against himself by separating his head to face his body. Kaminsky has said: "the depiction of a head upside down or detached from the body is typical of Chagall, symbolizing strangeness and the paradoxical nature of life" (ibid., p. 320). The jagged blue shapes outlining the background only heighten the juxtaposition of the scene. This bright color palette is also seen in two related works resulting from the same commission, Esquisse de décor pour "Les joueurs" (Meyer 294; Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and Hommage à Gogol (Fig. 1; Meyer 291; The Museum of Modern Art, New York).
Though the productions of these plays would not be seen through to fruition by the Hermitage Theatre, the present work and the related studies perfectly capture the working relationship between the artist and his writer-muse.