L'Ange

Lithograph, 1956

Publisher : Verve (Paris)

Printer : Mourlot (Paris)

Catalog : [Mourlot 120 ; Cramer 25]

Image dimensions : 35.50 cm. × 26.00 cm. (13.98 in. × 10.24 in.)

Paper dimensions : 35.50 cm. × 26.00 cm. (13.98 in. × 10.24 in.)

Not signed
Certificate of authenticity
Excellent condition

Marc Chagall (1887-1985) painted angels throughout his career. The theme appears in one of his works of 1917, L'Apparition (private collection), following a dream in which, he recounts in My Life, "a winged being descends with brilliance and clamour". The angel is a link with spirituality and also with art. Christian iconography abounds with angels inspiring the evangelists. For Chagall, the angel represents that supernatural, not to say divine, inspiration. In Chagall's work the angel is a bearer of messages, as art should be, which is why he sometimes depicts himself in the guise of an angel.
This lithograph thus represents one of Chagall's richest themes, a spiritual theme carrying a dimension higher than reality. The handling of this work shows the artist's broad brushstrokes suggesting the wings, a gesture both light and assured. Chagall uses only two colours to strengthen the effect of his composition, reduced to the essential. Yellow, the colour of the sun, fills the face and spills over the top, as if to suggest light. This fine plate comes from an important publication issued in 1960 by the review Verve, the highly avant-garde artistic and literary review founded by Tériade, to which the greatest artists contributed, such as Matisse, Picasso, Klee, Miró, Léger, Braque and of course Chagall.

Ref : B33