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Lot Essay
The Comité Marc Chagall has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
Painting the present work in the mid-1970s, Chagall was one of the greatest living masters of the modern movement. Faithful to the inspiration which had fueled his art from the very beginning, Chagall continued to paint with the same vigor and intensity that he had shown throughout his life. The theme of embracing lovers surrounded by colorful bouquets of flowers depicted in the present work is one which the artist had consistently explored since the 1920s. The couple are widely considered to be Chagall himself and his beloved first wife Bella, who died in 1944, but who remained his eternal bride and forever the light of his life.
The present work is a glorious example of this recurrent motif, depicted in a vibrant burst of color and mysticism as represented by the bird centered between the bouquets. When Chagall came to France from his native Vitebsk, he was struck by the charm of French flowers: “He said that when he painted a bouquet it was as if he was painting a landscape. It represented France to him” (J.J. Sweeney, Marc Chagall, New York, 1946, p. 56). In the present work, Chagall’s masterful use of color-the flaming reds of the divan, the deep blues of the background, and the warm, radiant yellows of the bourgeoning bouquet and bird-is particularly poignant. Describing the artist’s final years in France, Susan Compton notes, “His eye did not dwell on details but on the concentration of light and matter, on the chemistry of nature for which he created an equivalent in his painting…Above all, the oils of this period convey the artist’s sheer enjoyment of painting” (Chagall, exh. cat., Royal Academy of Art, London, 1985, p. 223).
Painting the present work in the mid-1970s, Chagall was one of the greatest living masters of the modern movement. Faithful to the inspiration which had fueled his art from the very beginning, Chagall continued to paint with the same vigor and intensity that he had shown throughout his life. The theme of embracing lovers surrounded by colorful bouquets of flowers depicted in the present work is one which the artist had consistently explored since the 1920s. The couple are widely considered to be Chagall himself and his beloved first wife Bella, who died in 1944, but who remained his eternal bride and forever the light of his life.
The present work is a glorious example of this recurrent motif, depicted in a vibrant burst of color and mysticism as represented by the bird centered between the bouquets. When Chagall came to France from his native Vitebsk, he was struck by the charm of French flowers: “He said that when he painted a bouquet it was as if he was painting a landscape. It represented France to him” (J.J. Sweeney, Marc Chagall, New York, 1946, p. 56). In the present work, Chagall’s masterful use of color-the flaming reds of the divan, the deep blues of the background, and the warm, radiant yellows of the bourgeoning bouquet and bird-is particularly poignant. Describing the artist’s final years in France, Susan Compton notes, “His eye did not dwell on details but on the concentration of light and matter, on the chemistry of nature for which he created an equivalent in his painting…Above all, the oils of this period convey the artist’s sheer enjoyment of painting” (Chagall, exh. cat., Royal Academy of Art, London, 1985, p. 223).