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Spaightwood Galleries
Marc Chagall as Printmaker: Drypoints, etchings, and lithographs 1923-1981
November 18, 2006 to February 19, 2007
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One of our ways of surviving winter is looking at lots of works by Marc Chagall, whose color cheers our spirits and replenishes our faith in the coming of spring and new life after the gloom of winter. Our first winter show this year will feature about 135 of Chagall's images drawn from our inventory of over 200 different Chagall works.
One of the most dominant artists of the 20th century, Chagall attempted to reshape the way we see and are seen. From his earliest paintings, depicting the ghettoized Russian Jews in their small villages not as prisoners but as free to explore the unknown world of their fantastic visions, to his last works, which meditate on the mysteries of love, artistic creation, and the joys of life, Chagall demonstrates the triumph of the imagination and celebrates its ability to free us from the constraints of daily life. Our current show will feature about 130 original etchings and lithographs dating from the time of Chagall’s return from the Soviet Union in 1922 to those executed close to the end of his extremely long and productive life. We will feature a group of his early black and white etchings (some hand-painted by Chagall) for the Dead Souls and The Fables, executed and printed in Paris from 1923 to 1930 at the invitation of Ambroise Vollard. In these works, Chagall says both farewell to Russia and hello to the technique of etching; the works vary between the loving if bittersweet emotions of his departure and his joyous discovery of his new medium. We will also feature a number of recent acquisitions, including the set of five etchings done in 1926-27 for Maternité, six large-format colored etcingss done in 1957 for De Mauvais Sujets, and four etchings done in 1977 to accompany a volume of writings by his friend Nobel-Prize winner André Malroux, on the Spanish Civil War, in which Malroux was a volunteer. The show also features groups of works illustrating the circus and his love affairs with Paris (including some lithographs he made in the 1952 and 1953 after his return from the U.S.) and with village life, with lovers and flowers, and with musicians and dancers. Works dealing with Biblical themes represent a large portion of Chagall's oeuvre, and this year we will include over 70 of them ranging from the etchings he did between 1930 to 1939 for Ambroise Vollard's proposed Bible—most printed in 1939 but not published until 1956 after Chagall's flight from Europe and his postwar return; some completed and printed between 1952 and 1956, his sets of lithographs for Verve in 1956 and 1960, his portfolio of large-format lithographs on the theme of the Exodus, and several out-of-series works).
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Les deux pigeons / The two doves (H. 233, S. 181). Original etching, 1927-30. 100 pencil signed impressions (of which this is one), 85 hand-colored impressions, and 240 impressions (of which 40 are on japon paper) signed in the plate for The Fables of La Fontaine. This image occurs as plate 87 in the Fables. Slightly matburned outside platemark. Image size: 296x240mm. Price: SOLD.
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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. Our impression signed by Chagall. With the centerfold, as always. Image size: 345x465mm. Price: $4350. An unsigned impression is also available for $2400.
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Sur la terre des dieux / On the gods' earth II: Cupid and Psyche (M. 530). Original color lithograph, 1967. 120 unsigned impressions published in the deluxe artist's book of the same title containing 12 original color lithographs. Of those 120 portfolios, 20 reserved for the artist were on Japon numbered I/XX to XX/XX, 75 were on Arches (as ours) numbered from 1 to 75, and the remaining 25 also on Arches, were also reserved for the artist. Sur la terre des dieux was published in Paris by A. C. Mazo and printed at Atelier Mourlot by Chagall and Charles Sorlier. This work served as the conclusion to the brief text by Robert Marteau (which had been folded under for framing). The full size of the page is 650x500mm. Image size: 320x390mm. Price: $6250.
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Vision of Paris (M. 81). Original color lithograph, 1952. 75 signed & numbered plus 6000 unsigned impressions. Published in a special issue of the deluxe art review, Verve dedicated to Chagall's vision of Paris. One of Chagall's earliest color lithographs and marked by the intensity and delight that Chagall's newly mastered technique brought to his color lithography during the fifties and early sixties. Image size: 353x528mm. Price: $2,875.
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Selifan (H. 45, S. 7). Original etching, 1923-27. 335 impressions signed in the plate + 33 HC. Chagall's etchings for Gogol's Dead Souls are among his earliest etchings. They are also some of his finest. Illustrated in Meyer's Chagall's Graphic Works, Nice 1987, and the 1988 Moscow Chagall exhibition. Selifan is a rather rascally figure who believes in self-indulgence and would rather party than work. The horse, by the way, feels the same way and is the main character in one of the prints, where he is shown laughing at Selifan who is lecturing him for letting the other two horses do all the work. No hand-signed proofs exist. Image size: 221x286mm. Price: $3500.
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L'artiste II (M. 929). Original color lithograph, 1978. 50 signed & numbered impressions, of which this is n. 11/50. This work has just come back from restoration. It is a beautiful image in very good condition. Image size: 330x250mm. Price: $15,000.
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Bouquet for Fernand (M. 635). Original color lithograph, 1972. 800 unsigned impression for Mourlot's Souvenirs et portraits d'Artistes, published in Paris by Alain Mazo. There were also 50 portfolios with Roman nummerals and several unnumbered artist's proofs. Ours is a signed trial proof on which Chagall has crossed off the printer's border marks (full sheet illustrated on left above; image as matted on right; the backgound is cream, the brown tone at left is the result of using a flash to illuminate the piece from up close). Image size: 335x260mm. Price: $4750.
We also have one of the 800 unsigned impressions available: Price: $1350.
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L’inspiration / Inspiration (M. 837). Original lithograph, 1976. 50 signed and numbered impressions. One of Chagall's largest lithographs dedicated to the ideas/images that serve to inspire him to create. Image size: 740x525mm. Price: SOLD.
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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.
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: Saturday and Sunday noon to 6 pm and other times by arrangement. Please call to confirm youor visit. Browsers and guests are welcome.
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