馬克·夏加爾

Charles Malpel, Paris (acquired from the artist circa 1914)

Jean-Pierre Moueix, Bordeaux (sold: Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, May 19, 1983, lot 216)

Private Collection, Dallas (acquired from the above sale and sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 3, 2005, lot 45)

Acquired from the above sale

Bordeaux, Galerie des Beaux-Arts, La Femme et l'artiste de Bellini à Picasso, 1964, no. 152

Very good condition. The paper has been laid down to a card. The gouache itself is well-preserved and in very 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.
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.

Beautifully delineated and formally expressive, Chagall's nude dancer is a rare work from Chagall's first months living in Paris in 1911. The character of the dancer appeared periodically throughout the artist's lifelong production, especially in murals and set designs that he did for the ballet.  The present composition is among the artist's first explorations of this subject, and his picture here synthesizes the varied aesthetic influences at play in Chagall's art during this important stage of his career.

After having spent his formative years in Russia away from the influence of the Western avant-garde, Chagall was overwhelmed by what he encountered in the French capital. "I found myself in the midst of contemporary European artists," he later recalled. "At the Louvre I was captivated by Manet's Olympia, and by Courbet and Delacroix, and I came to understand what Russian art was, and the West. I was captivated by the moderation and taste of French art" (quoted in Marc Chagall (exhibition catalogue), San Francisco Museum of Art, 2003, p. 27). He was particularly impressed by the "wild" aesthetic of the Fauves, most notably, Matisse, who had painted his famous ensemble of dancers for the Muscovite collector Shchukin in 1909-10.

Chagall was mindful of Matisse and the influences of French art when he completed the present work in 1911, but he was also considering the significance of this character with regard to his own Russian heritage. When Chagall moved from St. Petersburg to Paris in 1911, the Russian Ballet was also coming to prominence at the Paris Opera. The artist had designed sets for Serge Diaghilev's ballet the year before, and his own arrival in Paris was confirmation that Russian artists were finally establishing their place amongst the European avant-garde. This gouache, completed with a Fauvist-inspired stylization, is a nod to this cultural cross-over.