Marc Chagall

Eric Estorick (acquired from the artist's estate)
Grosvenor Gallery, London
Acquired from the above circa 2000

Hanover, Kestner-Gesellshaft, Marc Chagall, 1955, no. 77
Brussels, Knokke-le-Zoute, Casino Communal, Marc Chagall Exposition Retrospective, 1961, no. 64
Stockholm, Moderna Musée, Marc Chagall, 1982, no. 91
Munich, Kunsthalle, Marc Chagall, 1991, no. 86
London, Grosvenor Gallery, Marc Chagall Original Paintings c. 1950-1982, 1997, no. 5

Executed on cream wove paper. Affixed to a mat at four corners, as well as at center of right, left, and bottom edges on the verso. Sheet is scratched in several areas; however, this is part of the artist's process of inscising. Otherwise, colors are extremely bright and fresh. Work is in excellent condition.
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Executed circa 1950, Le couple bleu depicts one of Chagall's best-known themes, love, which can be traced back to some of the artist's earliest work (see fig. 1).  Chagall's 1915 marriage to Bella had a profound effect on his depiction of the subject.  Increasingly, the theme of husband and wife would supersede that of lovers.  According to Susan Compton, it was the fairy tale of true love that the artist began seeking to capture and his preoccupation with this subject would take on an even greater significance "for the way of true love was displeasing to Bella's parents, foremost citizens of Vitebsk.  Even seventy years later, in Couple on a Red Background he remembered the need he had to become a great artist, covered with glory and honour, to vindicate his marriage" (Chagall, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1985, p. 223).

Though painted during the artist's mature period (and six years after Bella's death), Le couple bleu calls to mind the the wedding night of the two young lovers who are pressed together in a romantic state of anticipation. 

Fig. 1: Marc Chagall, Au-dessus de la ville, 1914-1922, gouache, distemper, black crayon and pencil on paper, Sold Sotheby's London, June 22, 2011 for $2,957,808