Das Geschenk

Details

MARC CHAGALL (1887-1985)
Das Geschenk
etching with extensive hand-coloring in watercolor and gouache, on Ciconia paper, 1945, signed in pencil, annotated 'Plate XXLIII' in pencil on the reverse and numbered 'XLIII' in ink on the justification page, one of 30 impressions with hand-coloring (there were also 20 without hand-coloring), published by Pierre Matisse Editions, New York, with full margins, the etching loose (as issued), in generally very good condition, together with the book Marc Chagall by Lionello Venturi with title, text, justification and reproduction pages bound (as issued), with blue paper cover, rice paper covered boards and slipcase
Image: 9 7/8 x 7 3/8 in. (250 x 188 mm.)
Sheet: 11 x 8 3/8 in. (279 x 213 mm.)
(album)

Literature

Kornfeld 96; Cramer books 16

Conditions of sale

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Lindsay Griffith Head of Department

lgriffith@christies.com + 1 212 636 2290

Lot Essay

As James Johnson Sweeney has noted, "It was in Toulon in 1924, Chagall recalls, that the charm of French flowers first struck him. He claims that he had not known bouquets of flowers in Russia...He said that when he painted a bouquet it was as if he was painting a landscape. It represented France to him. But the discovery was also a logical one in the light of the change taking place in his vision and pictorial interests. Flowers, especially mixed bouquets of tiny blossoms, offer a variety of delicate color combinations and a fund of texture contrasts which were beginning to hold Chagall's attention more and more." (Marc Chagall, New York, 1946, p. 56)

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