Marc Chagall
Dessins pour la Bible (Illustrationen für die Bibel)
1960
Series of 24 colour lithographs on heavy Vélin d'Arches with watermark "ARCHES", each laid in paper envelope (folded double sheets 70.2 x 50 cm resp. 79 x 59 cm) Each approx. 35.8 x 27.2 cm (52.1 x 37.9 and 52.2 x 75.8 cm) Each signed in pencil lower right and inscribed 'H.C.' left. One of 10 mentioned separate suites "hors commerce" aside from a numbered edtion of 50 on this paper. Printed by Mourlot Frères, Paris. - The colour lithographs published in Verve, nos. 37-38, Edition Verve, Paris 1960. - Vibrant colours; the paper of the series' title sheet (horizontal format) slightly browned. - The paper envelopes partially with minimal finger marks. - Accompanied by a red linen graphic portfolio (80 x 60 cm).
Chagall's works related to the Bible stand at the heart of his late work in particular. In his reception among the general public and art lovers, this world of religious imagery and its familiar, widely prevalent artistic motifs took on decisive importance. Masterful in his handling of the lithographic technique, Chagall succeeded in dealing with individual narratives from the Bible - from Paradise, the Fall and the Expulsion from Eden to the fate of the unfortunate Job - in figural compositions using luminous, painterly colours to achieve an illuminating and lyrical effect immediately able to take hold of attentive viewers. “Chagall [was] assigned the role of an elect interpreter of articles of faith; comparable to Johann Sebastian Bach in this sense, he received the status of a fifth Evangelist.” (Christofer Conrad, Pictor in Fabula, Chagalls lithographisches Werk, in: Ulrike Gauss (ed.), Marc Chagall, Die Lithographien, La Collection Sorlier, Stuttgart 1998, p. 37).
Catalogue Raisonné
Mourlot 230 - 254; Cramer Books 42
Provenance
Galerie Hermann, Essen-Werden (1988); Private collection, Hesse