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Lot 3249 - A191 Impressionist & Modern Art - Friday, 06. December 2019, 04.30 PM
MARC CHAGALL
Provenance:
- Estate of the artist.
- Thomas Ammann Fine Art, Zurich.
- Private collection Switzerland, acquired at the above gallery.
Full of mysticism and mythology, Marc Chagall’s oeuvre arouses worldwide fascination. As a painter-poet, as he is called, he understood how to give a glimpse into his Russian-Jewish past through his paintings like no other artist. His works create a dream-like world full of wonders encountered in everyday life. However, serious and burdensome issues such as the oppression of the Jews significantly shaped his personality and also find meaning in his oeuvre.
Born in Witebsk in 1887 as Moische Segal, Chagall attended the Jewish elementary school. Due to his mother’s help, he soon transferred to the community school, where the young Chagall eventually learned Russian. During that time, as the artist himself recalled, he lacked any contact with art. Not once did he see a drawing or a picture in his hometown. One day, however, as Chagall saw a classmate copying a picture from a magazine, his passion ignited and he began to draw and paint. The avant-garde currents that characterised his stay in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century helped the young Russian to make a decisive breakthrough. He developed an independent style, distinguished by dynamic colours accompanied by fantastical representations.
After numerous trips and stays abroad, including to the United States and his Russian homeland, Chagall took up life in the French Provence. Saint-Paul-de-Vence became his new home where he created the estate "La Colline" with a studio. There, the artist discovered the element of light in a way that he had never encountered in his hometown. The colours in his works became brighter and more vibrant than before. The location revived a nature filled with joy and life in Chagall's works.
Representations of animals, lovers, circus artists and musicians characterise the work from this period.
The "Repos sur coq et chevauchée au village rouge” presented here is likewise classified in this phase of his artistic production. Amongst the many works in oil and gouache, this painting also presents a village scene from his home in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. The play of light lends the scene a mystical and unique character. Like the element of light, the choice of colour forms an important expressive component in Chagall's work and holds profound significance. The life of Marc Chagall witnessed turbulent times, both historically and art historically. Years of war, revolutions, as well as avant-garde art movements intervene in his oeuvre. Despite sombre times and difficult living conditions, the artist never lost his zest for life and brought into his work the unshakeable love his family had always given him. As Chagall himself expressed, "in our life, as on a painter's palette, there is only one colour that gives meaning to life and art: the colour of love." (Jacob Baal-Teshuva, Marc Chagall, 1998, p. 10). The dominant red not only forms the expression and the atmosphere of "Repos sur coq et chevauchée au village rouge", but it also stands as a symbol of love that lifted the artist over and above the difficult times in life.
CHF 120 000 / 180 000 | (€ 123 710 / 185 570)
Sold for CHF 158 900 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.