Marc Chagall

Galerie d'Etraz, Lausanne
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2002


The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Comité Chagall.

The canvas is not lined and there appear to be no signs of retouching visible under UV light. This work is in good original condition.
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Painted circa 1965, Marc Chagall's L'Âne rouge dans le ciel is an exceptionally energetic example of the artist's visionary, fantastic œuvre. Comprised of visions taken from his mind and his memory, Chagall's paintings consistently combine floating lovers and flying beasts in magical compositions that exude charm and beauty. Chagall had a passion for dreaming, and his whimsical, folkloric paintings serve as testimony to this. His instinct was to abandon logic to the joy of creation, and as such Chagall's paintings become an expression of his internal thoughts and feelings rather than objective projections of the outside world.

In the present work, Chagall brings together some of his most celebrated motifs of animals and lovers suspended in a dreamlike setting: winged beasts and floating lovers are depicted soaring through the sky with complete disregard for the forces of gravity. Indeed the composition of this work is so dynamic and the mystical aura so pervading that the viewer is instantly transported into this whimsical world. We are invited to join these mystical characters and experience the magic and mystique of the subconscious. The painting is a visual feast as well as being a testament to the fact that 'the themes in Chagall's art are timeless, not confined to a single epoch of history, but reminding man of the continuity of life for generation after generation, since the earliest days of recorded time' (Susan Compton, Chagall, London, 1985, p. 14).