.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Chagall’s enchanting Le Songe is an evocative dream-like vision, a composition that captures some of the artist’s most emblematic motifs and which showcases his unrivaled ability to merge dream with reality, personal history with public myths.
It features a couple tenderly embracing, suspended in the whimsical skies above Vitebsk, Chagall's beloved hometown. The cityscape is rendered in Chagall's characteristic ethereal blue, creating a dreamlike atmosphere that transcends the ordinary confines of time and space. Seen there, below the floating couple, Chagall includes a small self-portrait of the artist at his easel, immortalizing himself within the streets of his childhood. This introspective element adds a layer of autobiographical depth to the work, showcasing Chagall's reflective nature in his later years. Above the embracing couple, Chagall introduces an element of surreal juxtaposition—a vibrant flower still life and the head of a horse emerge, floating in the celestial space, adding to the painting's narrative complexity and fantastical ambiance.
These diverse expressive elements embody a world of fantasy and childhood memories that provided the artist with emotional and mental refuge throughout his lifetime. For late Chagall, as with Pablo Picasso's later works, memory is the key to creativity; the desire to revisit and relive all of the stages of a long and passionate life imparts a poignant dimension to the artist's old age, and a special value to his insights. The painting’s title, Le Songe, which translates to The Dream, brings to light themes of memory and artistic inspiration. The title, then, is as much a recount of happy memories as it is rallying call: an instruction to its viewers to feel the same joy, freedom, and energy that Chagall uncovered later in his life.
On the occasion of Chagall's 90th birthday in July 1977, The French government awarded the artist the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, the highest award that it may bestow on anyone who is not a head of state. Special celebrations were held that day throughout France, including gala concerts, special television programs, and Pope Paul VI sent a congratulatory message. Chagall was the first living artist to be honored a solo exhibition at the Louvre, first in 1967, then invited to return in 1977 in connection with his birthday. President Giscard d'Estaing officially inaugurated the show where Chagall brought together 62 works, all created in the previous ten years, and significantly choose to include Le Songe. The following year it continued to Palazzo Pitti in Florence, before being exhibited and later sold by the Chagall’s main dealer in the United States, Pierre Matisse, to the present owner in 1984.
It features a couple tenderly embracing, suspended in the whimsical skies above Vitebsk, Chagall's beloved hometown. The cityscape is rendered in Chagall's characteristic ethereal blue, creating a dreamlike atmosphere that transcends the ordinary confines of time and space. Seen there, below the floating couple, Chagall includes a small self-portrait of the artist at his easel, immortalizing himself within the streets of his childhood. This introspective element adds a layer of autobiographical depth to the work, showcasing Chagall's reflective nature in his later years. Above the embracing couple, Chagall introduces an element of surreal juxtaposition—a vibrant flower still life and the head of a horse emerge, floating in the celestial space, adding to the painting's narrative complexity and fantastical ambiance.
These diverse expressive elements embody a world of fantasy and childhood memories that provided the artist with emotional and mental refuge throughout his lifetime. For late Chagall, as with Pablo Picasso's later works, memory is the key to creativity; the desire to revisit and relive all of the stages of a long and passionate life imparts a poignant dimension to the artist's old age, and a special value to his insights. The painting’s title, Le Songe, which translates to The Dream, brings to light themes of memory and artistic inspiration. The title, then, is as much a recount of happy memories as it is rallying call: an instruction to its viewers to feel the same joy, freedom, and energy that Chagall uncovered later in his life.
On the occasion of Chagall's 90th birthday in July 1977, The French government awarded the artist the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, the highest award that it may bestow on anyone who is not a head of state. Special celebrations were held that day throughout France, including gala concerts, special television programs, and Pope Paul VI sent a congratulatory message. Chagall was the first living artist to be honored a solo exhibition at the Louvre, first in 1967, then invited to return in 1977 in connection with his birthday. President Giscard d'Estaing officially inaugurated the show where Chagall brought together 62 works, all created in the previous ten years, and significantly choose to include Le Songe. The following year it continued to Palazzo Pitti in Florence, before being exhibited and later sold by the Chagall’s main dealer in the United States, Pierre Matisse, to the present owner in 1984.