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Lot Essay
This work is sold with a photo-certificate from the Comité Marc Chagall.
Painted in the 1920s, Les Paysans Russes is a vivid example of Chagall's work from his early years in France, a period which marked a turning-point in his life and work. He had arrived in Paris in 1923, and immediately established a friendship with the publisher and dealer, Ambroise Vollard. Chagall was the perfect choice as illustrator for Gogol's novel Dead Souls and Vollard immediately commissioned him for this project. Although written in Italy, this novel was truly a Russian classic and inspired Chagall to draw on the motifs of his native country, which were so close to his heart. 'From the first plate, Chagall revealed his nostalgia for Russia, filling his dramatic scenes with activity. They are a veritable caricature of Russianness in a unique blend of past and present in imagination and technique' (S. Compton, Marc Chagal, My Life, My Dream, London, 1990, p. 17).
This project and Chagall's nostalgic memories of Russia and Vitebsk naturally had a great influence on him as he tried to settle in France. In 1924 he spent much of the summer in Normandy and Brittany. Here, the country folk and their habits reminded him of his youth in Russia. A year later, Chagall took rooms in the village of Montchauvet in the countryside not far from Mantes-Gassicourt. Here he experienced a burst of creative energy, working again on illustrations for Gogol's Dead Souls and also producing a number of independent oils based on similar rural themes such as La Vie Paysanne now in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo.
'These pictures echo Chagall's reaction to country life at Montchauvet. Small gouaches show us the village...everywhere the handling is painterly, vivid, spontaneous and fluent. In the large paintings the houses are transformed, as in Peasant life...into Russian painted cabins. But the little figures that people them have lost the four-square, earthy stability of the peasants of 1924. They also have been filled with the restless life of the colour and given a certain delicate airiness' (F. Meyer, Marc Chagall, Life and Work, London, 1964, p. 343).
The present gouache formed part of the celebrated collection of P. A. Regnault. Regnault was one of the Netherland's most prestigious collectors, second only to Mrs Kröller-Möller. He was particularly fond of Chagall's work and bought sixteen oil paintings and gouaches by the artist, among them three highly important early works from 1912-1913: Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers, Pregnant Woman and The Fiddler, all now housed in the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
Painted in the 1920s, Les Paysans Russes is a vivid example of Chagall's work from his early years in France, a period which marked a turning-point in his life and work. He had arrived in Paris in 1923, and immediately established a friendship with the publisher and dealer, Ambroise Vollard. Chagall was the perfect choice as illustrator for Gogol's novel Dead Souls and Vollard immediately commissioned him for this project. Although written in Italy, this novel was truly a Russian classic and inspired Chagall to draw on the motifs of his native country, which were so close to his heart. 'From the first plate, Chagall revealed his nostalgia for Russia, filling his dramatic scenes with activity. They are a veritable caricature of Russianness in a unique blend of past and present in imagination and technique' (S. Compton, Marc Chagal, My Life, My Dream, London, 1990, p. 17).
This project and Chagall's nostalgic memories of Russia and Vitebsk naturally had a great influence on him as he tried to settle in France. In 1924 he spent much of the summer in Normandy and Brittany. Here, the country folk and their habits reminded him of his youth in Russia. A year later, Chagall took rooms in the village of Montchauvet in the countryside not far from Mantes-Gassicourt. Here he experienced a burst of creative energy, working again on illustrations for Gogol's Dead Souls and also producing a number of independent oils based on similar rural themes such as La Vie Paysanne now in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo.
'These pictures echo Chagall's reaction to country life at Montchauvet. Small gouaches show us the village...everywhere the handling is painterly, vivid, spontaneous and fluent. In the large paintings the houses are transformed, as in Peasant life...into Russian painted cabins. But the little figures that people them have lost the four-square, earthy stability of the peasants of 1924. They also have been filled with the restless life of the colour and given a certain delicate airiness' (F. Meyer, Marc Chagall, Life and Work, London, 1964, p. 343).
The present gouache formed part of the celebrated collection of P. A. Regnault. Regnault was one of the Netherland's most prestigious collectors, second only to Mrs Kröller-Möller. He was particularly fond of Chagall's work and bought sixteen oil paintings and gouaches by the artist, among them three highly important early works from 1912-1913: Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers, Pregnant Woman and The Fiddler, all now housed in the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.