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Email to FriendSigned Marc Chagall, Lithograph, Le Grand Paysan (The Big Peasant), 1968  |
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| Artist: | Chagall, Marc (1887 - 1985) |
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| Title: | Le Grand Paysan (The Big Peasant), 1968 |
| Reference: | M.549 |
| Medium: | Original Color Lithograph |
| Image Size: | 23 1/4 x 17 3/4 in (59.1 x 45.1 cm) |
| Sheet Size: | 29 1/4 x 22 1/8 in (74.3 x 56.4 cm |
| Framed Size: | 39 in x 32 1/4 in (99.1 cm x 81.9 cm) |
| Signed: | Hand signed by Marc Chagall (Vitebsk, 1887 - Saint-Paul, 1985) in pencil in the lower right margin. |
| Edition: | Numbered 29/50 (from the edition of 50) in pencil in the lower left margin. |
| Condition: | This work is in excellent condition, a wonderful impression with bright fresh colors. |
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Gallery Price
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Item# 3366
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One of Chagall's more unusual prints, this piece is noteworthy for the tiny, quirky details found within the image as well as the unique, almost comical expressions found on each individual character's face. This offbeat village scene appeals to those with a sense of humor and fun and leaves it up to us to tie together this puzzling scene that involves a big peasant, a mermaid, and stacked houses amidst other curious figures and forms. |
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| Historical Description: | |
Aptly entitle The Big Peasant, this composition revolves around a large, somewhat awestruck peasant, who gazes directly out towards the viewer, a shocked and quizzical expression upon his face. This peasant appears oblivious to the fact that he is standing next to a beautiful woman emerging from a large, bountiful bouquet. Rather than focusing in on her beauty, the peasant opens his palms and gestures behind him as though asking the viewer what is going on in the unusual scene surrounding him. This topsy turvy composition has figures turned horizontal, vertical, and upside down as if they were stacked quickly upon each other in an attempt to frame the peasant at the center. Larger than life animals peak in to the right accompanied by a mermaid and upside down houses while, to the left, a couple, violinist, and horse defy the laws of gravity. This intriguing work invites the viewer into Chagall's whimsical world of carefree fancy and keeps the viewer guessing as to what exactly is going on in this fascinating composition. Created in 1968, this original color lithograph is numbered 29/50 in pencil in the lower left margin and hand signed by Marc Chagall (Vitebsk, 1887 - Saint-Paul, 1985) in pencil in the lower right margin. DOCUMENTED AND ILLUSTRATED IN: ABOUT THE FRAMING: | |
| Style: | 20th Century Modern Master, Lovers, French and Russian |
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Biography of Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall (1887 - 1985)
Marc Chagall was born July 7, 1887, in Vitebsk, Russia. From 1907 to 1910, he studied in Saint Petersburg, at the Imperial Society for the Protection of the Arts and later with Léon Bakst. In 1910, he moved to Paris, where he associated with Guillaume Apollinaire and Robert Delaunay and encountered Fauvism and Cubism. He participated in the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d'Automne in 1912. His first solo show was held in 1914 at Der Sturm gallery in Berlin.
Chagall visited Russia in 1914, and was prevented from returning to Paris by the outbreak of war. He settled in Vitebsk, where he was appointed Commissar for Art in 1918. He founded the Vitebsk Popular Art School and directed it until disagreements with the Suprematists resulted in his resignation in 1920. He moved to Moscow and executed his first stage designs for the State Jewish Chamber Theater there. After a sojourn in Berlin, Chagall returned to Paris in 1923 and met Ambroise Vollard. His first retrospective took place in 1924 at the Galerie Barbazanges-Hodebert, Paris. During the 1930s, he traveled to Palestine, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, and Italy. In 1933, the Kunsthalle Basel held a major retrospective of his work.
During World War II, Chagall fled to the United States. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, gave him a retrospective in 1946. He settled permanently in France in 1948 and exhibited in Paris, Amsterdam, and London. During 1951, he visited Israel and executed his first sculptures. The following year, the artist traveled in Greece and Italy. During the 1960s, Chagall continued to travel widely, often in association with large-scale commissions he received. Among these were windows for the synagogue of the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, installed in 1962; a ceiling for the Paris Opéra, installed in 1964; a window for the United Nations building, New York, installed in 1964; murals for the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, installed in 1967; and windows for the cathedral in Metz, France, installed in 1968. An exhibition of the artist's work from 1967 to 1977 was held at the Musée du Louvre, Paris, in 1977-78, and a major retrospective was held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1985. During his lifetime he also created popular lithographs, such as Maternity. Chagall died March 28, 1985, in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France.
"When Matisse dies," Pablo Picasso remarked, "Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is." Picasso claimed he was not a fan of the "flying violins and all the folklore, but his canvases are really painted, not just thrown together." He followed up by saying, "There's never been anybody since Renoir who has the feeling for light that Chagall has."
The Haggerty Museum describes The Bible Chagall prints as showing "Chagall's fluid forms, dreamlike sense of space and unique style. In his choice of subject matter, Chagall reveals his reading of the Old Testament in its moments of triumph, sorrow, and prophecy."
