Title: The Rabbi of Vitebsk (The Praying Jew) | Le Rabbin de Vitebsk (Le Juif priant), 1923
Technique: Hand Signed and Numbered Etching and Aquatint in Colours on chine-colleé on Japan Paper
Paper size: 70 x 53.5 cm. / 27.6 x 21 in. Image size: 47 x 36.5 cm. / 18.5 x 114.3 in.
Additional Information: This etching and aquatint in colour is hand signed in pencil by the artist “Marc Chagall” at the lower right margin.
It is also hand numbered in pencil from the edition of 100, at the lower left margin.
It was printed and published circa 1930 by the Éditions Apollo Artistiques, Paris based on an oil painting of the same name from 1923.
Provenance: Estate of Anne Rosenzweig, New York.
Note: The oil painting “The Praying Jew” on which this work is based is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. This, along with one other version in oil held by the Ca’ Pesaro, Venice, were created in 1923 upon the artist’s return to Paris following the First World War. On his arrival in Paris it became clear much of the works he had created before the outbreak of war had not survived and so Chagall created these two paintings based on an oil he created in Vitebsk in 1914.
The central figure was a beggar in Vitebsk who the artist had paid to wear his father’s prayer clothes in an attempt to capture what Chagall felt were fast disappearing traditions.
The composition although solemn in choice of palette shows the influence of Cubism on Chagall – proving that even the most traditional subjects from the artist’s life in Vitebsk can be viewed alongside the burgeoning Parisian Avant-garde.
Condition: Very good condition. Pale time-staining around the image. The sheet very slightly, but evenly toned. A soft crease at the lower right corner.
Technique: Hand Signed and Numbered Etching with Aquatint on BFK Rives Wove Paper
Paper Size: 55.2 x 38 cm. / 21.7 x 14.9 in.
Image Size: 31 x 23.2 cm. / 12.2 x 9.1 in.
Additional Information: This etching with aquatint is hand signed in pencil by the artist “Marc Chagall” at the lower right margin.
It is also hand numbered in pencil from the edition of 300, at the lower left margin.
This work was printed by Georges Visat in ca. 1956 and published by Maeght Éditeur, Paris in a limited edition of 300 signed and numbered impressions based on a painting from the 1950’s titled “L’horloge à Vitebsk” (until 2006 in the Estate of Marc Chagall)
The paper bears the BFK Rives watermark.
It is stamped below the platemark “Grave par G. Visat” at the lower left corner.
Note:
Franz Meyer stated of Chagall’s use of the wall clock in his works, “In 1914, after returning to his parents’ home, Chagall had painted the wall clock as a mysterious item in the inventory of the world of his childhood. In a small picture of 1930, in which a woman is lighting a candle, the big clock stands out against the white and ochre wall as a reference point for homely memories…What does the wall clock stand for? First, it is an item of the mysterious world of childhood, a great, strange presence in the parents’ sitting room filled with an incomprehensible life of its own. This makes it a being belonging to a different stage of reality…At the same time it announces the hour and so demarcates the diffuse stream that governs all human destiny.” (Meyer 379)
Title: Siren with the Poet, from: Nice and the Côte d’Azur | Sirène au Poète, from: Nice Côte d’Azur, 1967
Technique: Hand Signed and Numbered Lithograph in Colours on Arches Wove Paper
Paper size: 73.3 x 52.7 cm. / 28.9 x 20.7 in.
Image size: 61.5 x 45.5 cm. / 24.2 x 17.9 in.
Additional Information: This lithograph is hand signed in pencil by the artist “Marc Chagall” at the lower right margin.
It is also hand numbered in pencil with Arabic numerals from the edition of 150, at the lower left margin.
A further 75 impressions were numbered in Roman numerals and there were ten artist’s proofs.
It was printed by Charles Sorlier and published by Editions Mourlot in 1967.
The paper bears the Arches watermark in the right margin and is stamped with the ink stamp of the publisher, verso.
Note: ‘Siren with the Poet’ is one of 12 compositions created to celebrate Nice and the Côte d’Azur. The large-scale lithographs each contain references to the coastline, in particular the easily recognisably Baie-des-Anges (Bay of Angels). It was created in collaboration with Charles Sorlier and is considered to be the finest suite created from this partnership. Walter Erben notes that: ‘The Southern French landscape had astonished Chagall with its wealth of colours and its lyrical atmosphere had captivated him with the beauty of its flowers and foliage.’, this is beautifully embodied in ‘Siren with the Poet’.
Literature: Sorlier, C. (1984). Chagall Lithographs. Vol. V 1974 – 1979. Crown Publishers, Inc.: New York.
Reference: Sorlier 27.
Condition: Good condition. A short tear at the upper left sheet corner. A soft scratch across the lower image. The sheet very slightly toned.
Title: The Angel with the Candlestick | L’Ange au Chandelier, 1973
Technique: Hand Signed and Numbered Lithograph in Colours on Arches Wove Paper
Paper size: 75 x 53 cm. / 29.5 x 20.9 in.
Image size: 52 x 43 cm. / 20.5 x 16.9 in.
Additional Information: This lithograph is hand signed in pencil by the artist “Marc Chagall” at the lower right margin.
It is also hand numbered in pencil from the edition of 200, at the lower left margin.
This work was printed in 1973 by Charles Sorlier based on Chagall’s original gouache in a limited edition of 200 hand signed and numbered impressions.
It was published by Éditions des Amis du Message Biblique Marc Chagall, Nice.
This composition was also used for a poster advertising the inauguration of the Musée National Mesage Biblique Marc Chagall.
The paper bears the Arches watermark in the right margin.
Provenance: The collection of Jacquelyne Branch.
Thence by descent
Literature: Mourlot, F., & Sorlier, C. (1998). Chagall: The Lithographs V (Catalogue Raisonné). D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, Inc.
Reference: CS. 46
Condition: Very good condition. Pale, unobtrusive area of time-staining around the image. Very pale toning along the lower sheet edge and upper left corner.