Marc Chagall

Commissioned and acquired directly from the artist

London, Royal Academy of Arts & Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Chagall, 1985, no. 102, illustrated in colour in the catalogue (titled Paris and as dating from 1962-63)

The canvas is unlined and there is no evidence of retouching under ultra-violet light. This work is in very good original condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration, although slightly richer and more vibrant in the original.
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Commissioned directly from the artist and painted in 1968, Paysage de Paris is a vibrant and poetic celebration of that city. Painted in a lively palette of blue, green, yellow and pink hues, it compiles the glorified landmarks of Paris: the Eiffel Tower on the left, Place de la Concorde with its obelisk in the foreground, and Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame and Montmartre with Sacré-Cœur to the right.

 

Chagall first arrived in Paris from Russia in 1911, and over the following years became a prominent figure in its artistic circles, exhibiting at the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d'Automne. In 1914 he intended to return briefly to his native Vitebsk, however his visit was prolonged by the outbreak of the First World War. He returned to Paris in 1923, had his first Paris retrospective exhibition at the Galerie Barbazanges-Hodebert in the following year, and it was during this time that Chagall established himself as a leader of the Ecole de Paris. Although he moved to the south of France in 1949, the city of Paris was firmly rooted as a pivotal element of his universe, and its symbols remained among the recurring motifs in his painting until the end of his rich career.

 

 

 

Fig. 1, Chagall at the window of his Paris studio at 13, Quai d'Anjou, 1958-59