Marc Chagall Etching "The House Painters" for "Les Âmes mortes"

Item Details

Marc Chagall (Russian/French; 1887 – 1985)
The House Painters, 1927
Etching on Arches MBM wove paper
Signed in plate to the lower right
From Les Âmes mortes (Dead Souls) by Nicolas Gogol
Published by Tériade, Paris, France, 1948
Printed by Louis Fort
Marked “XXIII” to the lower right under mat; referring to the plate number
Includes “MBM” watermark to the lower right edge

Literature
Patrick Cramer, Marc Chagall The Illustrated Books, Figure 17.

An etching titled The House Painters by Marc Chagall, executed between 1923 and 1927, printed in 1927. This work was part of a series of nine-six etchings that the artist completed for Nikolai Gogol’s novel Les Âmes mortes (Dead Souls), which was Chagall’s first collaborated with the renowned French art dealer and publisher Ambroise Vollard. However, by the time of Vollard’s death in 1939, he had left twenty-five unfinished projects. As a result, the volume by Chagall was later completed and distributed by Tériade in 1948.

Chagall was first introduced to printmaking, and etching in particular, in the early 1920s. He began his etchings for Les Âmes mortes in 1923, shortly after his return from Russia, which may explain the Expressionist elements and Russian scenes visible in this work and others in the volume. Throughout his life, Chagall eventually completed thirty-eight illustrated books, 123 intaglios and woodcuts, and over 1,00 lithographs.

A renowned Jewish artist born July 7, 1887 in Vitebsk, Russia, Marc Chagall eventually moved to Paris and gained French citizenship. He studied at the Imperial Society for the Protection of the Arts in Saint Petersburg. He was a member of the Ecole de Paris and was part of the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d’Automne in the early 1900s. In addition to Paris and St. Petersburg, Chagall traveled and exhibited globally including Amsterdam, Jerusalem and New York City. Having lived through World War I and World War II, his work was influenced by these events. Chagall’s work is inspired by his Jewish heritage and his home town of Vitebsk, and incorporates elements of Fauvism and Cubism as well as aspects of traditional Russian and Jewish folk art. His work has been exhibited and collected internationally both privately and by institutions including the Guggenheim, the Museum of Modern Art, Centre Pompidou and Tate Modern.

Condition

- toning and mat burn to paper; paper is slightly warped; creasing and crinkling to mat; some accretions throughout; scratches, dents, and chipping to frame; print has been examined outside of the frame.

Dimensions

- frame measures; sheet measures approximately 11" W x 14.75" H; plate measures 11.32" W x 9" H.

Item #

ITMG329960