MARC CHAGALL (1887 - 1985)
Lot 14

MARC CHAGALL (1887 - 1985)

Le chant du Roi David

Closed27 April 2008

Price Realised

USD 713,000

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MARC CHAGALL (1887 - 1985)
Le chant du Roi David
signed and dated 'Chagall 1976' (lower right)
gouache, and pastel brush and ink on paper
30 3/8 x 22¾ in. (77.2 x 57. 4 cm.)
Executed in 1976

Private collection, Palos Verdes.
Moses-Davlyn Gallery, New York.
Anonymous sale, Christie's, Los Angeles, 5 December 2000, lot 5.
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

Specialist note

The Comité Marc Chagall has confirmed the authenticity of this work.

Le chant du Roi David depicts many of the artist's favourite motifs. King David, dressed in typical Russian garb - a fur trimmed coat and boots, dominates the picture majestically replete with golden crown and harp. "In a way, there is something provocative about his vision of the sacred. His characters seem to develop with total freedom of movement and feeling". (M.T. Souverbie, Chagall, New York, 1975, n.p.). Indeed the figure of King David floats slightly above the assemblage of villagers. The roofs of the shtetl delineate the earth from the darkened sky where familiar images of the artist with palette, flying figures, fish, cow and the pink moon render this a richly symbolic work.