MARC CHAGALL (1887-1985)

The present lot is a rare proof extensively reworked by the artist in pastel and gives a fascinating insight into the artist's creative process. The master printer Charles Sorlier, with whom Chagall collaborated at the legendary Imprimerie Mourlot from the early 1950s until his death in 1985, described the artist’s method in making lithographs as follows:

“Chagall normally begins the process of producing a lithograph by drawing a composition in black on stone, zinc or transfer paper…The black is nearly always the complete skeleton of the work. After printing some proofs, he adds colour, in watercolour or pastel, thus permitting himself a choice between several versions. The maquette established, Chagall then executes the principal plates.
Next he and I do our colour tests at the printing press, tests which are subsequently submitted to him. He nearly always goes over them again, correcting them and adding other tones. New trial proofs are usually necessary before the definitive adjustments. Only when he finds the proof entirely to his satisfaction does he sign the order to print [the edition]." (C. Sorlier, Chagall Lithographs, 1974-79, Monte Carlo, 1984, p. 12).

In this version Chagall experimented with much more exuberant colours than those used for the final, printed edition, which, as the title suggests, are in a cooler, bluer palette.