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Lot Essay
The Comité Marc Chagall has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
In the summer of 1942, Chagall found himself traveling to Mexico with his wife Bella in response to a commission he had received to design the scenery and costumes for the American Ballet Theater company's production of Aleko. The Chagalls had arrived in New York the previous summer and it was there where all of the preliminary arrangements for the production were made. Léonide Massine was brought on to oversee the choreography and Chagall found a valuable kinship with his fellow Russian. They would meet almost daily for several months in the lead up to the production, which, due to technical reasons, was scheduled to premiere in Mexico City rather than New York. Franz Meyer has written that "for Chagall and his wife, the months spent working with Massine were among the happiest of their stay in America" (Marc Chagall, Life and Work, 1963, p. 438).
Once the Chagalls arrived in Mexico City, they were each consumed with working on the final touches of the production-Chagall worked on the backdrops while Bella took part by supervising the costume production. In spite of their busy schedules, the Chagalls were able to sneak moments away to explore the city and surrounding countryside of Mexico. It was during those brief interludes that Chagall was able to complete a number of sketches that would inform a series of gouaches depicting Mexican farmworkers. "These works reveal his deep sympathy with Mexico and the Mexicans. He felt attracted to their ardent, generous nature and was pleased at their feeling for art and their response to his own work. It is these people that we see in the gouaches. But the 'Mexican' spirit, apart from this folklore, is expressed in the close kinship of man and beast, an old basic theme of Chagall's art" (ibid., p. 440).
The present work, painted in rich jewel tones of blue and purple, evokes the classic motif of mother and child while incorporating the artist's recent influences of the Mexican country side. We see here the blissful mother nursing her eager young child while serenaded by her Mexican troubadour. The calming blue tones of the composition suggest a nighttime lullaby, which is echoed by the sliver of moon captured in the upper left corner.
In the summer of 1942, Chagall found himself traveling to Mexico with his wife Bella in response to a commission he had received to design the scenery and costumes for the American Ballet Theater company's production of Aleko. The Chagalls had arrived in New York the previous summer and it was there where all of the preliminary arrangements for the production were made. Léonide Massine was brought on to oversee the choreography and Chagall found a valuable kinship with his fellow Russian. They would meet almost daily for several months in the lead up to the production, which, due to technical reasons, was scheduled to premiere in Mexico City rather than New York. Franz Meyer has written that "for Chagall and his wife, the months spent working with Massine were among the happiest of their stay in America" (Marc Chagall, Life and Work, 1963, p. 438).
Once the Chagalls arrived in Mexico City, they were each consumed with working on the final touches of the production-Chagall worked on the backdrops while Bella took part by supervising the costume production. In spite of their busy schedules, the Chagalls were able to sneak moments away to explore the city and surrounding countryside of Mexico. It was during those brief interludes that Chagall was able to complete a number of sketches that would inform a series of gouaches depicting Mexican farmworkers. "These works reveal his deep sympathy with Mexico and the Mexicans. He felt attracted to their ardent, generous nature and was pleased at their feeling for art and their response to his own work. It is these people that we see in the gouaches. But the 'Mexican' spirit, apart from this folklore, is expressed in the close kinship of man and beast, an old basic theme of Chagall's art" (ibid., p. 440).
The present work, painted in rich jewel tones of blue and purple, evokes the classic motif of mother and child while incorporating the artist's recent influences of the Mexican country side. We see here the blissful mother nursing her eager young child while serenaded by her Mexican troubadour. The calming blue tones of the composition suggest a nighttime lullaby, which is echoed by the sliver of moon captured in the upper left corner.