- 64
馬克·夏加爾
估價
1,800,000 - 2,500,000 USD
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招標截止
描述
- 馬克·夏加爾
- 《阿列科的馬》
- 款識：畫家簽名Marc Chagall並紀年1954-56（右下）
- 油彩畫布
- 37 3/8 x 38 7/8英寸
- 95 x 98.7公分
來源
Private Collection, Japan
Bernie Chase, La Jolla
Acquired from the above on April 2, 1999
Bernie Chase, La Jolla
Acquired from the above on April 2, 1999
展覽
Hamburg, Kunstverein in Hamburg; Munich, Haus der Kunst & Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Marc Chagall, 1959, no. 161, illustrated in the catalogue
拍品資料及來源
Painted between 1954-56, Le Cheval d’Aleko is a striking canvas that recalls Chagall’s fantastical involvement with the ballet. Chagall was commissioned to paint for the Ballet Theatre of New York, where he lived in exile after fleeing Nazi occupied France. Chagall worked on four productions for the ballet and opera over the course of twenty-five years including Aleko (1942), The Firebird (1945), Daphnis and Chloe (1959) and The Magic Flute (1967). The present work depicts a scene from Aleko.
Aleko is the first of three operas written by Sergei Rachmaninoff from an adaptation of the poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin. The opera was written in 1892 and first performed in Moscow. It tells the tragic love story between the Russian Aleko, and a free-spirited gypsy girl name Zemfira. Chagall was commissioned by the Ballet Theatre of New York production which premiered in Mexico City in 1942. For the 1942 Ballet, Chagall created four hand-painted scenic backdrops for the ballet along with dozens of costumes for the dancers. The principal dancer in the 1942 production of Aleko was Dame Alicia Markova, the English ballerina largely considered one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of the twentieth century. During their time in Mexico City, Markova and Chagall formed a close friendship that lasted through the remainder of their lives. Referencing their time together in Mexico City Markova recalled: “I used to go to the market with Chagall often, and in Mexico at that time, it was very primitive. You could go to the market and buy all the wonderful cotton materials, and they were all dyed – by the Indians you see – in these fantastic colors. Well, they were almost psychedelic colors: the marvelous candy pinks, and yellow, and oranges. You could choose your materials and choose the lace and everything, and the braids, and design your own, what you had in mind, and then you brought it and you took it to the other end of the market…Rather than shop for themselves, the Chagalls used the outdoor marketplace as an inspiration laboratory for costume design; and they too would buy fabrics, intricately cut lace, and decorative trim for the elderly seamstress to stitch up to specifications” (T. Sutton, The Making of Markova, New York, 2014, p. 137).
Aleko is the first of three operas written by Sergei Rachmaninoff from an adaptation of the poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin. The opera was written in 1892 and first performed in Moscow. It tells the tragic love story between the Russian Aleko, and a free-spirited gypsy girl name Zemfira. Chagall was commissioned by the Ballet Theatre of New York production which premiered in Mexico City in 1942. For the 1942 Ballet, Chagall created four hand-painted scenic backdrops for the ballet along with dozens of costumes for the dancers. The principal dancer in the 1942 production of Aleko was Dame Alicia Markova, the English ballerina largely considered one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of the twentieth century. During their time in Mexico City, Markova and Chagall formed a close friendship that lasted through the remainder of their lives. Referencing their time together in Mexico City Markova recalled: “I used to go to the market with Chagall often, and in Mexico at that time, it was very primitive. You could go to the market and buy all the wonderful cotton materials, and they were all dyed – by the Indians you see – in these fantastic colors. Well, they were almost psychedelic colors: the marvelous candy pinks, and yellow, and oranges. You could choose your materials and choose the lace and everything, and the braids, and design your own, what you had in mind, and then you brought it and you took it to the other end of the market…Rather than shop for themselves, the Chagalls used the outdoor marketplace as an inspiration laboratory for costume design; and they too would buy fabrics, intricately cut lace, and decorative trim for the elderly seamstress to stitch up to specifications” (T. Sutton, The Making of Markova, New York, 2014, p. 137).
Marc Chagall’s fascination with the visual splendor of the ballet served as a vibrant theme and source of inspiration throughout his late career and his monumental painted ballet backdrops and ballet works on canvas such as Le Cheval d’Aleko are among the most desirable within his oeuvre.