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Lot Essay
The Comité Marc Chagall has confirmed the authenticity of this work.
With its dreamlike atmosphere and deep, sonorous blue palette, Le bouquet champêtre is a powerful embodiment of the whimsical character of Chagall’s unique artistic vision during the 1960s, as he reached the very apex of his career. Dominated by the enormous, sprawling bouquet of flowers at its center, the composition explodes in a riot of vibrant tones, the star-shaped blooms a masterful study of dramatic color contrasts and subtle harmonies. Rendered in a thick impasto, the bouquet embodies the sheer abundance and beauty Chagall discovered in the French landscape, a connection which had first taken root in his mind during a journey to Toulon in 1924. Familiar leitmotifs from the artist’s oeuvre surround the flowers, populating the margins and even peeking through the heady blossoms—goats, cockerels, the familiar houses of the artist’s hometown of Vitebsk, even a symbolic self-portrait of the painter himself—combining elements from Chagall’s personal memories, dreams and desires to create a lyrical, dreamlike vision of the artist’s journey through life.
This was a period of great productivity and expanding creativity for Chagall—recognized internationally as one of the most important artists of his generation, much of his time during the 1960s was occupied by large scale public commissions in a diverse array of media, from tapestries to mosaics, stained glass windows to grand murals. His imagination was immediately reinvigorated and fueled by these experiments, each project sparking a renewed interest in certain motifs and themes as he pushed his creative vision in new directions. Chagall’s experiences of designing stained glass windows for a variety of religious and secular spaces were particularly important to his paintings of this period, as they lead him to a new understanding and appreciation of color. In Le bouquet champêtre, the interplay between the rich marine blue that suffuses much of the surface and the incandescent bursts of golden yellow, fiery reds, and emerald greens echo the unique color combinations and intense luminosity that marked many of Chagall’s projects in stained glass. The artist further accentuated the chromatic power of the blooms through the rich textures of his paint surface, building the bouquet through layer upon layer of vibrant pigment, granting the flowers a visual drama that captures the eye and draws the viewer into the heady world of his imagination.
With its dreamlike atmosphere and deep, sonorous blue palette, Le bouquet champêtre is a powerful embodiment of the whimsical character of Chagall’s unique artistic vision during the 1960s, as he reached the very apex of his career. Dominated by the enormous, sprawling bouquet of flowers at its center, the composition explodes in a riot of vibrant tones, the star-shaped blooms a masterful study of dramatic color contrasts and subtle harmonies. Rendered in a thick impasto, the bouquet embodies the sheer abundance and beauty Chagall discovered in the French landscape, a connection which had first taken root in his mind during a journey to Toulon in 1924. Familiar leitmotifs from the artist’s oeuvre surround the flowers, populating the margins and even peeking through the heady blossoms—goats, cockerels, the familiar houses of the artist’s hometown of Vitebsk, even a symbolic self-portrait of the painter himself—combining elements from Chagall’s personal memories, dreams and desires to create a lyrical, dreamlike vision of the artist’s journey through life.
This was a period of great productivity and expanding creativity for Chagall—recognized internationally as one of the most important artists of his generation, much of his time during the 1960s was occupied by large scale public commissions in a diverse array of media, from tapestries to mosaics, stained glass windows to grand murals. His imagination was immediately reinvigorated and fueled by these experiments, each project sparking a renewed interest in certain motifs and themes as he pushed his creative vision in new directions. Chagall’s experiences of designing stained glass windows for a variety of religious and secular spaces were particularly important to his paintings of this period, as they lead him to a new understanding and appreciation of color. In Le bouquet champêtre, the interplay between the rich marine blue that suffuses much of the surface and the incandescent bursts of golden yellow, fiery reds, and emerald greens echo the unique color combinations and intense luminosity that marked many of Chagall’s projects in stained glass. The artist further accentuated the chromatic power of the blooms through the rich textures of his paint surface, building the bouquet through layer upon layer of vibrant pigment, granting the flowers a visual drama that captures the eye and draws the viewer into the heady world of his imagination.