- 345
Marc Chagall
Estimate
500,000 - 700,000 USD
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Description
- Marc Chagall
- Scène de village aux quatre couleurs
- Signed Marc Chagall (lower right)
- Oil on canvas
- 21 5/8 by 18 5/8 in.
- 55 by 46 cm
Provenance
Private Collection, Tokyo
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1993
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1993
Condition
The work is in excellent condition. The canvas has not been lined. The colors are rich and vibrant and the impasto has been well preserved. Under UV light: no inpainting is apparent.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
Chagall’s arresting pastoral scene is drenched with the artist’s typical bold use of color. Here, sections of the three primary colors and a more subtle teal are pulled across the canvas from each of the corners like swathes of translucent curtains, smudging where they meet at various intersects, vying for supremacy. Except for the romantic flower blossom that dominates the upper left hand corner, Chagall’s color is non-descriptive and indiscriminate, throwing us into the artist’s dream world where a family soars high above a citadel, lit by moonlight yet drenched in sunlight. One of Chagall’s cosmic creatures, seen in so many of his works, here floats in red above the town (just like the angel above it) and serves to remind us the futility of trying to crack Chagall’s code. This painting typifies the beauty and madness that make Chagall’s work so enigmatic. We must see this painting as exemplary of an artist for whom “the essential functions of a painting were symbolic, not formal… the work of art was more than anything else a means to record his sensations, his memories, his moods, his feelings about life” (Andrew Kagan, Marc Chagall, New York, 1989, p. 7).