Spaightwood Galleries

After Chagall completed his etchings for The Fables (1930), Vollard again offered Chagall a commission, this time for a set of etchings illustrating themes from the Bible. Chagall went to Palestine to get a sense of the land itself. Returning to Paris, he began work on the 105 etchings for this project, first between 1931 and 1939 (when the first sixty-five etchings were executed and printed) and then between 1952 and 1956 (when the remaining forty etchings were completed and printed). Meyer Schapiro, the noted art historian, observed that Chagall was the ideal artist to have undertaken the task of illustrating the Bible: "Chagall was prepared for this achievement by his permanent receptivity of mind. He is a rare modern painter whose art has been accessible to the full range of his emotions and thoughts. . . . He has represented themes of an older tradition not in a spirit of curiosity or artifice, but with a noble devotion. . . . Although these etchings are marvels of patient, scrupulous craftmanship, there is no assertion here of skill or technical research, but an immersion in a subject which the artist convinces us often equals or transcends value in the work of art . . . In almost every image we experience the precise note of his emotion, his awe or sadness or joy, which is voiced in the melody of shapes and the tonal scale peculiar to each conception. If we had nothing of Chagall but his Bible, he would be for us a great modern artist."

Most of the etchings for The Bible were executed by Chagall between 1931 and 1939; the last pieces were completed between 1952 and 1956. The Bible was issued in an edition of 275 signed and numbered portfolios and 20 portfolios hors commerce. There are also 100 sets of the etchings with hand-coloring, each of which is initialed in pencil by Chagall. References: Marc Chagall: Druckgraphische Folgen 1922-1966. Verzeichnis der Bestände (Hannover: Kunstmuseum Hannover mit Sammling Sprengel, 1981); Charles Sorlier, Marc Chagall et Ambroise Vollard; Catalogue Complet des Gravures Exécutées par Marc Chagall à la demande de Ambroise Vollard (Paris: Editions Galerie Matignon, 1981). Important collections of Chagall's Biblical prints include Franz Meyer, Marc Chagall: His Graphic Work (NY: Abrams, 1957), Jean Adhemar, Chagall L'oeuvre grave (Paris: Biubliotheque Nationale, 1970), Jean Leymarie, Marc Chagall Musee National Message Biblique Marc Chagall (Nice: Musee National Message Biblique Marc Chagall, 1976), Charles Sorlier et al, Marc Chagall L'oeuvre grave (Nice: Musee National Message Biblique Marc Chagall, 1987), Ernst-Gerhard Guse, Marc Chagall Druckgraphik (Stuttgart: Westfalisches Landesmuseum fur Kunst und Kultgeschichte Munster, 1985),

Spaightwood Galleries, Inc.

To purchase, call us at 1-800-809-3343 (508-529-2511 in Upton MA & vicinity) or send an email to sptwd@verizon.net. We accept AmericanExpress, DiscoverCard, MasterCard, and Visa.

For directions and visiting information, please call. We are, of course, always available over the web and by telephone (see above for contact information). Click the following for links to past shows and artists. For a visual tour of the gallery, please click here. For information about Andy Weiner and Sonja Hansard-Weiner, please click here. For a list of special offers currently available, see Specials.

Visiting hours: Noon to six Saturdays and Sundays; other times by arrangement.
Please call to confirm your visit. Browsers and guests are welcome.