Description

Marc Chagall etching ‘Joshua in front of the Angel with a Sword’

This etching is from Marc Chagall’s ’The Bible’

Original title : Josué se prosterne devant l’ange porteur d’épée, chef des armées de l’Eternel (Josué,V,13-15)

Signed in the plate bottom corner left

Handsigned corner right below image

Marked with : ‘épreuve’ corner left below image

Printed on Montval Pergament

This etching is part of a 1975 reprint by SPADEM, based on the original 1956 etching

Info on SPADEM reprint on reverse side

1200 copies made – all numbered except ‘proof’ edits which are handsigned and handmarked

Reference : Sorlier #249

Size : 43 x 33 cm

This exceptional folio etching is from Marc Chagall’s The Bible. It was commissioned by Ambroise Vollard in 1931 and completed for Teriade in 1956. It used the Biblical text from the French Geneval translation of 1638. Chagall truly drew upon his Jewish heritage and study of modern art to create these etchings.The work was one of the rare illustrated Bible publications from the 20th century. Only 275 copies of the work were published. It is on montval paper, and is numbered 73 in the publication. It was signed by Chagall in ink on the justification.

Info on ‘The Bible’ etchings :

Almost 10 years in the making, and comprising over 100 etchings, it was the third of Chagall’s etching suites to be commissioned by the publisher Ambroise Vollard. Chagall’s Jewish identity had always informed his work; in this major suite, begun in 1930, it was to take centre stage.

Embarking on the project during a time of economic uncertainty, Chagall travelled to Palestine in 1931 for inspiration and worked on the plates throughout the 1930s, even as anti-Semitic violence and the rise of the Nazis threatened its existence. By January 1934, a major blow to the project came when Vollard suspended his financial support as he weathered the Depression, but Chagall continued unabated. The first 66 plates were completed by 1939, with the latter 39 already begun; but after Vollard’s untimely death and the advent of WWII, the project was postponed.

It would not be taken up again until 1952, when Chagall returned to the 39 unfinished plates. By 1956 the suite was complete, and a new publisher was found in Tériade. The final 105 etchings, characterised by an exquisite interweaving of lines hatched, scratched, and scored, are thought to be Chagall’s greatest and most personal work as a printmaker.

Info on Marc Chagall :

Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; 6 July 1887 – 28 March 1985) was a Belarusian-French artist. An early modernist, he was associated with several major artistic styles and created works in a wide range of artistic formats, including painting, drawings, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramics, tapestries and fine art prints.

Born in modern-day Belarus, then part of the Russian Empire, he was of Belarusian Jewish origin. Before World War I, he travelled between Saint Petersburg, Paris, and Berlin. During this period he created his own mixture and style of modern art based on his idea of Eastern Europe and Jewish folk culture. He spent the wartime years in Belarus, becoming one of the country’s most distinguished artists and a member of the modernist avant-garde, founding the Vitebsk Arts College before leaving again for Paris in 1923.

Chagall’s art can be understood as the response to a situation that has long marked the history of Russian Jews. Though they were cultural innovators who made important contributions to the broader society, Jews were considered outsiders in a frequently hostile society… Chagall himself was born of a family steeped in religious life; his parents were observant Hasidic Jews who found spiritual satisfaction in a life defined by their faith and organized by prayer.

In Paris, Vollard commissioned Chagall to illustrate the Old Testament. Although he could have completed the project in France, he used the assignment as an excuse to travel to Israel to experience for himself the Holy Land. In 1931 Marc Chagall and his family traveled to Tel Aviv on the invitation of Meir Dizengoff.

Chagall ended up staying in the Holy Land for two months. Chagall felt at home in Israel where many people spoke Yiddish and Russian. According to Jacob Baal-Teshuva, “he was impressed by the pioneering spirit of the people in the kibbutzim and deeply moved by the Wailing Wall and the other holy places” He returned to France and by the next year had completed 32 out of the total of 105 plates. By 1939, at the beginning of World War II, he had finished 66. However, Vollard died that same year. When the series was completed in 1956, it was published by Edition Tériade. Baal-Teshuva writes that “the illustrations were stunning and met with great acclaim. Once again Chagall had shown himself to be one of the 20th century’s most important graphic artists”.

By 1946, his artwork was becoming more widely recognized. The Museum of Modern Art in New York had a large exhibition representing 40 years of his work which gave visitors one of the first complete impressions of the changing nature of his art over the years. The war had ended and he began making plans to return to Paris. According to Cogniat, “He found he was even more deeply attached than before, not only to the atmosphere of Paris, but to the city itself, to its houses and its views.” Chagall summed up his years living in America: I lived here in America during the inhuman war in which humanity deserted itself… I have seen the rhythm of life. I have seen America fighting with Allies… the wealth that she has distributed to bring relief to the people who had to suffer the consequences of the war… I like America and the Americans… people there are frank. It is a young country with the qualities and faults of youth. It is a delight to love people like that… Above all I am impressed by the greatness of this country and the freedom that it gives.

He went back to France for good during the autumn of 1947, where he attended the opening of the exhibition of his works at the Musée National d’Art Moderne. After returning to France he traveled throughout Europe and chose to live in the Côte d’Azur which by that time had become somewhat of an “artistic centre”. Matisse lived near Saint-Paul-de-Vence, about seven miles west of Nice, while Picasso lived in Vallauris. Although they lived nearby and sometimes worked together, there was artistic rivalry between them as their work was so distinctly different, and they never became long-term friends. In 1954, he was engaged as set decorator for Robert Helpmann’s production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Le Coq d’Or at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, but he withdrew. The Australian designer Loudon Sainthill was drafted at short notice in his place.

In the years ahead he was able to produce not just paintings and graphic art, but also numerous sculptures and ceramics, including wall tiles, painted vases, plates and jugs. He also began working in larger-scale formats, producing large murals, stained glass windows, mosaics and tapestries. In 1963, Chagall was commissioned to paint the new ceiling for the Paris Opera (Palais Garnier), a majestic 19th-century building and national monument. André Malraux, France’s Minister of Culture wanted something unique and decided Chagall would be the ideal artist. Chagall accepted the project, which took the 77-year-old artist a year to complete. The final canvas was nearly 2,400 square feet (220 sq. meters) and required 440 pounds (200 kg) of paint. It had five sections which were glued to polyester panels and hoisted up to the 70-foot (21 m) ceiling. The images Chagall painted on the canvas paid tribute to the composers Mozart, Wagner, Mussorgsky, Berlioz and Ravel, as well as to famous actors and dancers. It was presented to the public on 23 September 1964 in the presence of Malraux and 2,100 invited guests.