Marc Chagall

Galerie Beyeler, Basel
Silvan Kocher, Soleure (acquired in 1967)
Sale: Christie's, London, 26th June 1990, lot 162
Didier Imbert Fine Arts, Paris
Artis Monte Carlo, Monte-Carlo
Acquired by the present owner in 1993

Zurich, Kunsthaus Zurich, Aus La Fontaines Fabeln, 1926-27
Paris, Galerie Bernheim-Jeune; Brussels, Galerie Le Centaure & Berlin, Galerie Alfred Flechtheim, La Fontaine par Chagall, 1930, no. 30
Zurich, Kunsthaus Zurich, Chagall, 1967 
Paris, Didier Imbert Fine Arts & Monte-Carlo, Artis Monte Carlo, Tableaux du XIXe et XXe siècles, 1987, no. 12

Franz Meyer, Marc Chagall, New York, 1961, no. 431, illustrated n.p.
Fables of La Fontaine, New York, 1997, illustrated in colour p. 93

Executed on brown wove paper, attached to the backing board in places and on the left and right edge. The sheet is slightly undulating, inherent to the application of the medium. The left edge is deckled and the lower edge is slightly unevenly cut. There are two minor creases on the far left edge where the work is attached to the backing board. There is a light indentation towards the upper right edge, and there are two small tears towards the lower right edge, all of which are not visible when framed. Otherwise, in overall good condition.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In 1925, Ambroise Vollard commissioned Chagall to illustrate all one hundred of Jean de La Fontaine's legendary fables. The present work is the illustration for Le Chartier embourbé (The carter stuck in the mire), the twenty-eighth fable in La Fontaine's sixth book. The series was a great sucess and critically acclaimed. Describing the sucess of Chagall's interpretation of the series, one Belgian critic proclaimed: 'The word has already been pronounced, but it must be repeated. This translation of Fontaine is an enchantment. These hundred dazzling watercolours seize us and with a spin of the wrist project us into the fables' very heart' (Marcel Schmitz in 1930, quoted in Fables of La Fontaine, New York, 1997, p. 21).


The Phaeton who drove a load of hay
Once found his cart bemired.
Poor man! The spot was far away
From human help – retired,
In some rude country place,
In Brittany, as near as I can trace,
Near Quimper Corentin, -
A town that poet never sang, -
Which fate, they say, puts in the traveller’s path,
When she would rouse the man to special wrath.
May heaven preserve us from that route! 

But to our carter, hale and stout:-
Fast stuck his cart; he swore his worst,
And, filled with rage extreme,
The mud-holes now he cursed,
And now he cursed his team,
And now his cart and load,-
Anon, the like upon himself bestowed.
Upon the god he called, at length,
Most famous through the world for strength.
“O, help me, Hercules!” cried he;
“For if thy back of yore
“This burly planet bore,
“Thy arm can set me free.”
This prayer gone up, from out a cloud there broke

A voice which thus in godlike accents spoke:-
The suppliant must himself bestir,
“Ere Hercules will aid confer.
“Look wisely in the proper quarter,
To see what hindrance can be found;
Remove the execrable mud and mortar,
Besets
“Which, axle-deep, thy wheels around.
“Thy sledge and crowbar take,
“And pry me up that stone, or break;
“Now fill that rut upon the other side.

“Hast done it?”
“Yes,” the man replied.
“Well,” said the voice, I’ll aid thee now;
“Take up thy whip.”
“I have..but how?
“My cart glides on with ease!
“I thank thee Hercules.”
“Thy team,” rejoined the voice, “has light ado;
“So help thyself, and Heaven will help thee too.”

Jean de La Fontaine, Le Chartier embourbé, 1668 (translated from the French)