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Lot Essay
The Comité Marc Chagall has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
Painted in 1978, L’âne bleu dans le ciel du village comes from a period of stability and contentment in Marc Chagall’s life. Having settled in Vence in the South of France, the artist and his second wife, Valentina Brodsky, were living in a house called ‘Les Collines’. Painted towards the end of the artist’s life, L’âne bleu dans le ciel du village can be seen as an amalgamation and presentation of some of the leading themes that Chagall had examined throughout his career; love, religion, memory and fantasy, as well as presenting many of the artist’s most evocative and emblematic motifs. A street scene from Chagall’s beloved Vitebsk, the Russian town in which he was born, provides the setting over which a heavenly sky full of floating figures and animals are depicted. The scene is bathed in a haze of rich blue, a characteristic of many of Chagall’s works, imbuing the image with a fantastical atmosphere, a figment of the distinctive visionary imagination of the artist.
A crucifixion scene can be seen in the upper left of the painting. The Bible had served as artistic inspiration for Chagall throughout his life, particularly during the Second World War when he painted a number of scenes of the crucifixion, which were often met with controversy due to the merging of Christian and Jewish religions. The animals that appear in the hazy, blue sky appear as symbols of the rural town of Vitebsk, Chagall’s birthplace. Even though the artist spent many years away from his Russian birthplace, his national heritage and identity remained a potent force within his painting. Chagall once stated that, 'If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing' (Chagall, quoted in J. Baal-Teshuva, ed., Chagall: A Retrospective, Exh. cat., New York, 1995, p. 16). L’âne bleu dans le ciel du village displays an enthralling and vivid depiction of the artist’s imagination and memory. With a poetic lyricism that unites the airborne characters and motifs, L’âne bleu dans le ciel du village is a magical impression of the artist’s wondrous pictorial world.
Painted in 1978, L’âne bleu dans le ciel du village comes from a period of stability and contentment in Marc Chagall’s life. Having settled in Vence in the South of France, the artist and his second wife, Valentina Brodsky, were living in a house called ‘Les Collines’. Painted towards the end of the artist’s life, L’âne bleu dans le ciel du village can be seen as an amalgamation and presentation of some of the leading themes that Chagall had examined throughout his career; love, religion, memory and fantasy, as well as presenting many of the artist’s most evocative and emblematic motifs. A street scene from Chagall’s beloved Vitebsk, the Russian town in which he was born, provides the setting over which a heavenly sky full of floating figures and animals are depicted. The scene is bathed in a haze of rich blue, a characteristic of many of Chagall’s works, imbuing the image with a fantastical atmosphere, a figment of the distinctive visionary imagination of the artist.
A crucifixion scene can be seen in the upper left of the painting. The Bible had served as artistic inspiration for Chagall throughout his life, particularly during the Second World War when he painted a number of scenes of the crucifixion, which were often met with controversy due to the merging of Christian and Jewish religions. The animals that appear in the hazy, blue sky appear as symbols of the rural town of Vitebsk, Chagall’s birthplace. Even though the artist spent many years away from his Russian birthplace, his national heritage and identity remained a potent force within his painting. Chagall once stated that, 'If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing' (Chagall, quoted in J. Baal-Teshuva, ed., Chagall: A Retrospective, Exh. cat., New York, 1995, p. 16). L’âne bleu dans le ciel du village displays an enthralling and vivid depiction of the artist’s imagination and memory. With a poetic lyricism that unites the airborne characters and motifs, L’âne bleu dans le ciel du village is a magical impression of the artist’s wondrous pictorial world.