Marc Chagall Untitled, 1954 is a rare and imaginative culmination of the collaboration between Marc Chagall and the Fucina degli Angeli. This work is from the beginning of Chagall’s usage of Murano glass as a means of expression.  In 1954, Chagall was invited into the Fucina degli Angeli by Egidio Costantini who was the master glass blower at the time. This striking sculpture is featured brilliant blue transparent glass with details in green, red, and yellow. Imaginative details animate the sculpture with Chagall’s signature whimsy. A peasant figure is positioned to take the place of a water pitcher spout; a village of peaked roof dwellings decorates the base of the sculpture in low relief. The peasant is a familiar and celebrated character recurring throughout the Russian-born artist’s oeuvre. The pastoral figure floats above the world below, an archetypal element of Chagall’s folkloric and surreal imagery. By integrating the peasant figure, Chagall’s appreciation of nature is represented, while his past in rural Vitebsk from which he fled during the war is reflected with nostalgic gratitude.

Created in 1954 in the Fucina degli Angeli in Venice, Italy, this Murano glass sculpture was realized by master glass artist Egidio Costantini (Brindisi, 1912- Venice, 1998) in collaboration Marc Chagall, (Vitebsk, 1887 – Saint-Paul, 1985).

Inscribed ‘M. Chagall | E. Costantini PA | 1954 F.A. Venezia © ’ on the underside, this work is an artist proof.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Marc Chagall Untitled, 1954, is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work).

1. Egidio Costantini: Il Maestro dei Maestri. Brussels: Espace Kiron and Espace Medicis, 1990. A different Chagall glass sculpture is listed on page 166 and illustrated on page 168.
2. Egidio costantini e i suoi artisti: sculture in vetro della Fucina degli Angeli. Italy: Fattidarte Associazione Culturale, 1996. A similar version is listed and illustrated on page 99.
3. Sorlier, Charles The Ceramics and Sculptures of Chagall. Monaco: Editions Andre Sauret, 1972. Comparable vases in ceramic listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 7, 8, and 9.
4. A certificate of authenticity accompanies this artwork.