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Spaightwood Galleries
120 Main Street, Upton MA 01568-6193; 800-809-3343
Marc Chagall: The Circus
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Marc Chagall on The Circus
For me, a circus is a magical spectacle, a passing and dissolving like a little world. There is a disquieting circus, a circus of hidden depths. These clowns, riders, acrobats are imprinted on my sight. Why? Why am I moved by their make-up and their grimaces? With them I travel on toward other horizons. Their colors and their painted masks draw me toward other, strange, psychic forms which I long to paint.
Circus! A magical word, a centuries old entertainment parading before us, in which a tear, a smile, a gesture of arm or leg takes on the quality of great art.
And what do circus people receive in return? A crust of bread. Night brings them solitude and sadness stretching on to the following day until evening, amid a blaze of electric light, heralds a renewal of the old life. For me, the circus is the most tragic of all dramatic performances.
Throughout the centuries, its voice has been the most shrill heard in the quest for the amusement and joy of man. Often it takes on a high poetic form. I seem to see a Don Quixote tilting at windmills, like the inspired clown who has known tears and dreams of human love.
My circus pitches its Big Top in the sky.
It performs among the clouds, among the chairs,
Or in the moon-reflecting windows.
In the streets a man goes by.
He puts out the lights and lamps of the town.
The show is over.
Marc Chagall, Circus (1967)
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The circus (M. 289) Original color lithograph, 1960 100 numbered impressions + c. 2000 unsigned impressions for Chagall Lithographe I. There were also 40 signed and numbered impressions reserved for the artist. Illustrated in the 1988 Moscow Chagall Exhibition. Image size: 325x250mm. Price: $1250.
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Acrobatics (M. 401). Original color lithograph, 1963. 40 signed & numbered + c. 2000 unsigned impressions for Chagall Lithographe II. Illustrated in the 1988 Moscow Chagall Exhibition. Image size: 320x240mm. Price: $1250.
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The Circus Rider (M. 153) Original color lithograph, 1956 2000 impressions signed in the stone. In 1957 an additional 100 signed & numbered impressions were pulled. One of Chagall's boldest treatments of this theme, the strong colors suggest the intensity of Chagall's admiration for the heroes of the circus and his sympathy for the lovelorn clown. Image size: 350x530mm. Price: $2,850.
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Behind the Mirror (M. 412). Original color lithograph, 1964. 75 signed & numbered + c. 2000 unsigned impressions. Commissioned for the deluxe art review, Derrière le Miroir, this lithograph explores a theme of great interest in surrealist art, the mirror as pathway to another world. The presence of the clown and the acrobat at either end of the mirror also suggests the circus as a place where we go to be thrilled by shows that we know are not true, hence the staid matron who imagines herself as a high-wire artist, hangin on to the mirror with her hands while her legs are up over her head. Our impression signed by Chagall. With the centerfold, as always. Image size: 345x465mm. Price: $4350. An unsigned impression is available for $2750.
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Woman juggler (M. 290). Original color lithograph, 1960. 100 numbered impressions + c. 2000 unsigned impressions for Chagall Lithographe I. There were also 40 signed and numbered impressions reserved for the artist. Illustrated in the 1988 Moscow Chagall Exhibition. Image size: 325x250mm. Price: $1250
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The trapeze artist (M. 477). Original color lithograph, 1967. Circa 1500 unsigned impressions. Image size: 220x115mm. Price: $950.
The black line at the left of the image is just the shadow of the mat; the entire image is consistently uniform from color to color and in excellent condition.
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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.
We also accept wire transfers and paypal.
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.
Go back to the top of this page.Visiting hours: Saturday and Sunday noon to 6 pm and other times by arrangement.
Please call to confirm your visit. Browsers and guests are welcome.
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