Tag Archives: Chagall lithographs

Marc Chagall and Charles Sorlier: Printmaking’s Dream Team

Chagall’s fascination with lithography came later in his life, as he was 63 years old when he began to study with printmaker Charles Sorlier in 1950.  Sorlier became his creative collaborator and master printmaker, assisting him in the Mourlot atelier.  At this time, Chagall was already a famous artist, yet he worked hard to master the printmaking medium with the assistance of Charles Sorlier.

Charles Sorlier first entered Fernand Mourlot’s atelier in 1948 after being deported to Pomerania during World War II.  He remained there for over 40 years, assisting many famous artists aside from Chagall such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Fernand Léger. However, his working relationship with Chagall was perhaps the most significant of his lifetime, as the two men were not only artistic collaborators but also great friends.

The Magic Flute, 1967

In working together to create Chagall’s original lithographs, Chagall and Sorlier developed a methodical procedure.  Chagall would draw a composition in black on stone, zinc, or transfer paper, creating the general outline of the work.  After printing a few proofs, Chagall would then add color in water color or pastel.  Once he was satisfied, he would print the principal plate.  Sorlier and Chagall would then conduct color tests, assuring that everything was in order. Chagall was a perfectionist, and he would revise and rework his pieces until they met his high standards.  Sorlier’s role in this process was to touch up the plates and add color to Chagall’s specifications.  This would save Chagall trips to the studio, as he trusted that his master printmaker could adjust his works to his liking.  Sorlier would also evaluate the quality of the lithographs and the number of proofs.  He would hand number the proofs allotted and destroy any leftover or excess proofs.  Chagall would then hand sign these numbered lithographs.

Chagall and Sorlier were so close that Chagall gave Sorlier permission to engrave interpretive lithographs after his original paintings.  These so called afterworks are currently some of the most valuable and sought after works of Chagall’s entire artistic oeuvre.  With its monumental size and vivid blue and yellow coloring, The Magic Flute (1967) is considered one of Chagall’s most desirable original color lithographs of all time, while works such as the Tribe of Naphtali (1964) and Tribe of Zebulun (1964) created after Chagall’s twelve stained glass windows for Jerusalem and Avenue de la Victoire at Nice (1967) and Roses et Mimosa (1967) from Nice and the Côte d’Azur also stand out with their symbolic and whimsical imagery. From Red Poppies (1949) and The Champs-Elysées (1954) to Bonjour Paris (1972) and Angel with Candlestick (1973), these magnificent color lithographs speak for themselves concerning the skill and energy devoted to their creation by both Sorlier and Chagall.

Sorlier would use a picture or gouache by Chagall as a starting point for these lithographs, creating trial proofs for the print.  He would then submit these trial proofs to Chagall, who would go over them in gouache or pastel.  Chagall was extremely devoted to the process, constantly touching up these works.  Sorlier states:

It is in this way, to the surprise of certain publishers, that a plate begun in six colors can comprise twenty-five in its definitive version.  The result so obtained is in fact a new creation, and not a reproduction, having but a very distant relationship with the initial maquette. Indeed, Chagall reworks these compositions so extensively that they can almost be considered as original engravings.  However, the great integrity he invests in his work prevents him from making such a denomination.  He requires that the plate bear my name each time he has not directly participated in the transcription to stone (Sorlier, pg. 13).

These afterworks are the astounding results of a fruitful and harmonious collaboration between Chagall and Sorlier.  Chagall, ever the modest artist, was set on giving credit to his good friend and master printmaker Charles Sorlier, a man that he greatly admired.  For this reason (as Sorlier states above) most of these afterworks are not only hand signed by Marc Chagall but also signed in the stone by Charles Sorlier.

Chagall and Sorlier were so close that Sorlier was one of the last people to visit Chagall before his death.  Through their united vision and amiable relationship, these two gifted artists changed the face of printmaking, creating original lithographs that to this very day inspire awe and spark the imaginations of viewers worldwide.

References:

  1. Sorlier, Charles. Chagall Lithographs Volume 5 (1974-1979).  New York: Crown Publishers Inc., 1984.

Chagall’s Coveted Color Lithos

 

Roses and Mimosa

Marc Chagall, an artist who defies convention and whose style resists neat labels, created over 1,100 hand-signed color lithographs that are today as coveted as his paintings. Such Chagall lithographs as Carmen and The Magic Flute are symphonies in color that command hefty prices at auction. A master engraver seen as Rembrandt’s legitimate heir in that medium, Chagall also experimented with woodblock. Commissioned by French publisher Ambroise Vollard to create three monumental suites of engravings, the artist perfected the black and white image. Vollard deemed his art, “ingenuous and subtle, realistic and fantastic!” His deft draftsmanship and instinctive relationship with color led to a new mode of creation upon his discovery of lithography.

First introduced to this notoriously difficult technique in Berlin, Chagall was soon creating images of great beauty. Every color in a lithograph requires a new stone or plate, making each image a complex balancing act. The artist must have an established vision for the work before beginning to mark the blank surface. The simple fact of a colorful image on a thick sheet of Arches belies the careful planning, registering and proofing that went into its creation. Likewise, the office printer spitting out copies cheapens the love and time that artists like Chagall poured into each fine art lithograph. A printed page or poster bears no relation to an original signed lithograph, a work printed in multiples.

In 1950, decades after his stay in Berlin, the artist met Fernand Mourlot, Georges Sagourin and, most importantly, Charles Sorlier. The printmaker worked closely on the majority of Chagall lithographs, checking each impression to make sure it matched the artist’s proof.

Becoming in this time period a “master of color and…poet of form,” Chagall created lithographic masterpieces on an unprecedented scale; such illustrated books as Daphnis and Chloe and Drawings for the Bible attest to the unmatched scope and quality of his printmaking. Only a few years after the great artist’s death, scholars already recognized how his output elevated the medium’s status to that of true fine art.

Historically, prints have provided artists with a way of reaching a wider number of viewers. They exist in multiples and this augments their impact; more people view the work and learn about the artist. What is unique about Chagall’s hand-signed color lithographs is their spirituality and emotion. He describes his relation to the lithographic stone or copper plate: “It seemed to me that I could entrust them with all my joys, all my sorrows…births, death, marriages, flowers…And, as I grow older, the tragedy of life that is inside us and all about us.”

This remarkable vision comes alive in such lithographs as The Adolescents, a tribute to ardent young love, and Roses and Mimosa, one of many poems written by Chagall to the Cote d’Azur. The whole of the artist’s lithographic oeuvre compelled publishers, curators and gallery owners to halt in astonishment; this effect, if anything, is only amplified today.