Daphnis et Chloé

A monumental project realised over a period of nearly ten years, the creation of Daphnis et Chloé involved one of the greatest painter-printmakers in the history of art, Marc Chagall; the unrivalled masters of lithography of the Atelier Mourlot in Paris; and one of the most influential publishers of the 20^th century, Tériade. It is a masterpiece of ancient Greek, pastoral literature, written in the Roman empire, a tortuous tale of innocence and erotic bewilderment of two young soulmates, re-told in a series of 42 lithographs, in which love - and colour! - ultimately conquers all. Daphnis et Chloé is arguably the chef-d'œuvre of Chagall’s graphic career and one the most important illustrated works of the past century.

The novel of Daphnis and Chloe, comprising four books, is thought to have been written around the 3rd Century CE by the ancient author Longus, probably a native of Italy who wrote in Greek and was familiar with the island of Lesbos, where the tale takes place. An idyllic romance, it intertwines the long tradition of Greek and Latin arcadian literature with mythology and adventure. Daphnis and Chloe, both abandoned in infancy and found by a goatherd and a shepherdess, respectively, grow up together, in the footsteps of their adoptive parents. While tending their flocks, their existence, lived simply and in harmony with nature and the seasons, is shaken by the arrival of love, as decreed by Eros. In their struggle to understand their emotional turmoil, they are counselled by the wise old shepherd Philetas and a woman from the city, Lycaenion. As suggested by Philetas, no medicine is known to break the ‘spell’, but the only remedies are kissing, embracing and lying down together with naked bodies. Yet ‘Daphnis’s feeling for Chloe is not just sexual, but is developing towards a human relationship. Development, indeed, appears to be the central theme, and the novel might be described as an Entwicklungsroman tracing the lovers’ progress, in Blakean terms, from Innocence to Experience’ (Turner, 1989, p. 15). After some hardships and adventures (including the raid of a fleet of pirates), and with the protection of the God Pan and the Nymphs, to whom the young pair has never forgotten to give offerings, Daphnis and Chloe finally join in marriage and moreover are reunited with their true - and rich - parents, Dionysophanes and Megacles.

The story spans a period of two years and takes place in the hills outside of Mytilene, the capital of Lesbos, an island in the North-Eastern Aegean Sea, overlooking the Gulf of Izmir. This island, famous for its native poet Sappho (circa 630 – 570 BC), was also the birthplace of Efstratios Eleftheriades (1897-1983), later in France known as the art critic and publisher Tériade, who persuaded his close friend Marc Chagall to illustrate this romance, and to conjure up the atmosphere of Ancient Greece and celebrate the island of his childhood and youth.

Chagall began making prints in 1922, at the age of 35, when he was already a highly established artist, living in Paris. His collaborations in the 1920s and 1930s with the famous art dealer and publisher Ambroise Vollard (1866-1939) led to the creation of important series of etchings illustrating literary classics such as Nicolai Gogol’s Les Âmes Mortes, La Fontaine’s Fables and the Bible, which however were never published within Vollard’s lifetime. It wasn’t until after World War II that these monumental works were finally issued by Tériade, who went on to propose to Chagall the publication of an illustrated edition of Daphnis et Chloé. The painter accepted the challenge and - as for the illustrations of the Bible which led him to visit Palestine - he travelled to Greece to seek inspiration and to give him an understanding of the essence of the country. The proposal came timely, in a calmer period of the artist’s life and work: following the end of the war in Europe, he had moved back to France after years of exile in New York, but his beloved first wife Bella had died in 1944. In spring 1952, his encounter with Valentina (Vava) Brodsky finally brought solace and they got married on 12 July. That same summer they travelled to Greece for the first time. The couple went first to Athens, then visited Delphi and the island of Poros. There and the following year, while he was attending a retrospective in Turin in 1953, Chagall made his first gouaches and pastel drawings to reflect his experiences, sketches evocative of the radiant sun and intense perfumes of Greece. In autumn 1954, they returned to Poros, then went to Nauplia and Olympia, and it was during this second journey that Chagall completed virtually all his preparatory works for the project. His trip to Greece ‘was probably his most powerful experience’ Jacques Laissagne wrote, ‘and one which took place on an emotional plane’ (Sorlier, 1990, p. 14).

Not long after his return from Greece, Chagall began with the translation of his gouaches into lithographs. Between 1924 and 1948, he had not worked with lithography, only with the more linear technique of etching. The lithographic medium however was far better suited to what he had in mind with Daphnis et Chloé, and for him it threw open the door to colour printing. Once he had returned to Paris, he began to work with Fernand Mourlot and his printers, Charles Sorlier and Georges Sagourin, at the workshop on Rue de Chabrol. He approached the project with the same attitude he brought to any new technique, be it ceramics, sculpture, stained-glass or print-making: as an apprentice rather than a famous artist, eager to learn every facet of the process. Chagall was welcomed daily at the atelier, working closely with Georges Sagourin, who was appointed to this project. Despite his humility when it came to technical skill, Chagall was ambitious and hard to please, striving for a greater sense of movement, for more luminosity and brilliance of colour than had been previously achieved. To translate and recreate the effects of Chagall’s gouaches into the medium of lithography, the contribution of a master printer was essential: the preparation of the stones or zinc plates, the careful application of the inks, understanding their transparency and fluidity, and the réperage, the correct registration of successive printing plates for each colour, all required great attention and experience. For Daphnis et Chloé, the work involved was colossal: each image is made up of twenty or more colours, each printed from a separate plate. Overall, the artist and printer created about one thousand different plates, often taking intermediate working proofs and discarding some plates. Day after day, under the watchful eye of the artist, the monumental project grew and took shape. The final result is testament to the deep creative bond between Chagall and ‘Jojo’ (Georges) Sagourin, in Mourlot’s own words ‘his favorite printer’ (Mourlot, 1963, p. 12). According to Charles Sorlier, the other master printer and ‘pillar’ of the Atelier Mourlot, ‘before Chagall, no-one else had achieved such a perfect state of harmony between pure inspiration and technical mastery. The study of this book provides an insight into the quintessence of perfection’ (ib., p. 15)

Although firmly based on the key events of the original text, depicting the narrative of the two orphans with great tenderness and sensuality, the artist provided his personal interpretation, and thereby created his own poetic invention. With these lithographs Chagall created images of ethereal brilliance, transforming the materiality of the scenes into dream-like visions of crimson, vermillion, mauve, sea green, light blue… a fantastical, gleaming kaleidoscope of colour.

The present set consists of proof impressions given to and dedicated to Georges Sagourin by Marc Chagall. Variously inscribed - with the numbering 2/2, two plates annotated épreuves de collaborateur, and 18 sheets dedicated Pour Georges –, it is very similar to the set given to Charles Sorlier, friend of the artist until his death in 1985. In both sets, on the last plate of the series, Hyménée, where the story concludes in the much-awaited loving embrace of the young couple attended by a jubilant crowd, the grateful artist has added a whimsical remarque in pencil in the lower margin. It seems likely that Chagall reserved a total of three such special sets for his printers: Mourlot himself, Sorlier and Sagourin.

The father of the current owner acquired this set over the course of the five years of its creation, before the edition was officially published, by purchasing each print directly from Georges Sagourin. The collector, a successful entrepreneur who was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for his achievements, frequently travelled for work across Europe. Being an enthusiast of lithography, he stopped by the Atelier Mourlot in Paris at least twice a year, where he met Mourlot himself, Charles Sorlier and Georges Sagourin. He enjoyed spending time at the imprimerie to observe and understand the lithographic process and compare working proofs. Sagourin only gave him the final proofs, which had the artist’s approval.

The sheets are in untouched, original condition, and have always been stored in a portfolio. They have never been framed and displayed, and only occasionally looked at by the family. The colours have hence retained their original saturation and brightness - an essential condition for appreciating the artist’s intention and the sheer beauty of the images.

Complete sets of Daphnis et Chloé are of great rarity. The majority of the sets have been separated and dispersed, with the prints sold individually over the decades. To our knowledge, at least 51 from the edition of sixty sets have been split up. Only four complete sets have been offered at auction since 1990 and presumably remain in their original state. The appearance of the present set, annotated and reserved by Marc Chagall for his closest collaborator in this creative and technical tour de force, is a unique opportunity to witness and acquire one of the greatest achievements of 20^th century printmaking.


The set includes:
Daphnis et Chloé – Frontispiece (M. 308); Découverte de Daphnis par Lamon (M. 309) ; Découverte de Chloé par Dryas (M. 310) ; Songe de Lamon et de Dryas (M. 311) ; Le piège à loups (M. 312) ; Daphnis et Chloé au bord de la fontaine (M. 313) ; Printemps au pré (M. 314) ; Le jugement de Chloé (M. 315) ; Le baiser de Chloé (M. 316) ; La ruse de Dorcon (M. 317) ; À midi, l'été (M. 318) ; L'arondelle (M. 319) ; La mort de Dorcon (M. 320) ; La caverne des nymphes (M. 321) ; Les vendanges (M. 322) ; La leçon de Philétas (M. 323) ; Les jeunes gens de Méthymne (M. 324) ; Songe de Daphnis et les nymphes (M. 325) ; Le Verger de Philétas (M. 326) ; Enlèvement de Chloé (M. 327) ; Le songe du capitaine Bryaxis (M. 328) ; La chasse aux oiseaux (M. 329) ; Sacrifice aux nymphes (M. 330) ; Banquet de pan (M. 331) ; La fable de Syringe (M. 332) ; L'hiver (M. 333) ; Le repas chez Dryas (M. 334) ; Le printemps (M. 335) ; Daphnis et Lycénion (M. 336) ; La saison d'été (M. 337) ; Le dauphin mort et les trois cents écus (M. 338) ; Chloé (M. 339) ; L'écho (M. 340) ; Le verger (M. 341) ; Les fleurs saccagées (M. 342) ; Daphnis et Gnathon (M. 343) ; Arrivée de Dionysophane (M. 344) ; Chloé vêtue et coiffée par Cléariste (M. 345) ; Temple et histoire de Bacchus (M. 346) ; Mégaclès reconnait sa fille pendant le festin (M. 347) ; Festin nuptial dans la grotte des nymphes (M. 348) ; Hyménée (M. 349).